


My Way is Clear

by SimplyGinger



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: Canon - TV, Drama, F/M, Friendship, Gen, Love, Romance, Romantic Comedy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-09
Updated: 2014-05-14
Packaged: 2017-12-28 22:25:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 45
Words: 320,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/997632
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SimplyGinger/pseuds/SimplyGinger
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nick gets injured at a crime scene, he meets a paramedic.  This is the story of their journey.  I am a recent FanFic convert to AO3 due to rampant abuse on FFN.  This story is multi chaptered.  It's Nick centered with a female OC.  NO SLASH.  All the CSI characters show up at one point in time.  This story will span several years of Nick's life and is a continuing work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just Haven't Met You Yet

**A/N: Story takes place before the episode with Nick being stalked by the deranged cable guy. Story title comes from a favorite song of mine called "Caledonia." The title is from the lyrics in one of the verses.**

**This story will be multi chaptered and it is a Nick/FEMALE OC centered fic. All the CSI characters will eventually show up at one point in time.  I am in the process of porting this story from FF.net to AO3.**

**And no, I did not steal the Twilight guy's name for my OC's last name. I stole it from the real Bryan. =)**

**Chapter 1 – Just Haven't Met You Yet**

"Nick, take Thomas and go talk to the suspect. He's over there. Brass and I will finish up here talking to the neighbors. Greg's inside with Catherine helping process."

"Will do, Grissom." I turned to face the officer assigned to help me with the suspect, "Ready?"

He nodded and we left Gil Grissom and Captain Brass behind. I turned around to watch them still talking amongst themselves and wondered if they even heard me or if they even knew I was gone yet.

With the suspect throwing a menacing glance at us, Officer Thomas motioned for me to stand behind him, "Sir, my name is Officer David Thomas and I'm with the LVPD. We'd like to ask you a few questions. What's your name?"

"Chuck. Chuck Walker." He continued to glare at both of us and was obviously unimpressed by the whole situation, "Who are you?"

Officer Thomas didn't answer. He just looked at me before he started to stare at the suspect, "Like Chuck Walker, Texas Ranger?"

"Like I haven't heard that before, Officer Comedy Ha Ha." He rolled his eyes and stared at Thomas, "No. Not like Chuck Walker, Texas Ranger. Chuck Walker as in you better have a damn good reason for being here or I'll call my attorney for harassment."

"Nick Stokes, C.S.I. for the LVPD. We're here responding to the call involving an assault and home invasion at your ex wife's house? Neighbor claims she saw you leaving there carrying a large bag and a few minutes later, your ex wife came out, bloodied and screaming you attacked her. Care to elaborate on that? We just want to hear your side of the story and get this all straightened out." I looked over at the eager officer as I tried to send him a mental message to calm down. "No need to call anyone's attorney for anything. We're here just to get your side of the story. That's all."

He just laughed, "Dumb bitch will say anything to get me out of her life. No, I wasn't there. Haven't been there. If you flat foots who call yourselves detectives had any brains, you'd know that dumb bitch already has a TRO against me. I can't go within a hundred feet of her. Not that I'd want to. She costs me enough money every month in alimony as it is."

"Yah, we kinda know that already, but a piece of paper usually doesn't stop anyone who has a record like yours." Officer Thomas flipped through a printout he had clipped to the clipboard he was carrying, "Assault. Battery. Terroristic threatening. Public Intox. Assault. Assault. Oh and look, here's a surprise…" He looked at me as he pointed at the paper on his clipboard. "And another assault." He flipped the top sheet back over. "Seven cases there against you after she had you arrested seven times. Wow. No wonder she has a TRO against you."

"What can I say? We were passionate people when we were married." He stared at me, "So what do you want me to do, pee in a cup? Take a lie detector?"

"Uh, no. That won't help in this case. What will help me is getting a set of your fingerprints and a run down of what your night has been like as well as anyone who can verify your whereabouts for the last eighteen hours."

I stared to reach for my kit on the ground behind me when the man yelled out and tried to shove me off of the porch. "Dumb bitch! You're at my house now not yours! Get the hell away from here!" I managed to catch myself on the porch railing and steadied myself in front of him, blocking his way from seeing her. I turned around in time to see him screaming at a woman standing behind some police cars as she was talking to Captain Brass.

The man lunged forward again, this time knocking me over. "I'm gonna kill you! I'm gonna kill you!" I tripped over a terra cotta flower pot on the sidewalk next to the porch. I landed with a hard hit to my back side with my left arm taking most of the force and my shoulder hitting the flower pot. I looked up to see Officer Thomas and someone else restraining him and Brass leading a crying young lady away from the commotion.

I got up and dusted the mud off my pants. I checked myself again for mud and went down to grab the clipboard he knocked out of my hands. As I reached out, a pain shot up my left side. "Damn." I shook my arm a bit, trying to get the pain to go away, but it didn't help any. I drew in a sharp breath when another wave of pain was sent down through my arm like a bolt of lightning.

Catherine saw me fall and dropped what she was doing to check on me, "Nicky? You okay? I saw you fall."

I shook my head, "Yeah, I think so. Guy got temperamental and shoved me off the porch. That the ex wife?" I unbuttoned the top button of my shirt to look at my injury and saw the faint outline of a bruise already forming. I rotated my shoulder a bit trying to shake the pain off, but couldn't.

"Yeah that's the ex wife or the punching bag if you want to go by that guy's record. Brass brought her over here to do an ID on him." Catherine watched me try to hide the fact I was really hurting. "Nicky, you need to let the medics take a look at you." I winced in pain as she touched the top of my shoulder. "Please. You're already bruising pretty easily and you need to be checked." She turned around to see if she could spot the ambulance that was here earlier and pointed over behind us, "There. They're getting ready to leave. The medics over there just helped out with the ex wife. She had an asthma attack earlier or something. LVPD just took the man who shoved you to jail after they cleared him. He had to be Maced to calm down enough to be handcuffed."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not." Catherine walked by me and shouted to the medics not to leave. "Nick, come on. They're waiting on you and before you even try to argue with me, I will win this fight. You're getting treated, even if I have to drag you kicking and screaming."

I shook my head, knowing it'd do me no good to argue and reluctantly walked over to the ambulance. I turned around to watch Catherine go back to the crime scene and almost ran into one of the medics. "Excuse me, um…" I faded off as I got a good look at the petite redhead in front of me. She was barely over five feet tall and if I had to guess, she probably didn't weigh enough to stand still in a wind storm even if she was soaking wet and holding onto a brick. "Um, hi. Hello."

"Hello to you, too." She started to smile.

I realized then she was waiting on me to tell her what I wanted, "I um...I need help."

"Don't we all?" She reached in her pocket for a pen and got a clipboard out of the back of the ambulance and started filling out a run report.

"What's wrong?" A man dressed in a uniform the same as hers approached the ambulance and took the clipboard out of her hands. "CSI Man needs help. How can I help you? Inhale too much fingerprint powder? Latex allergy?"

"I got this." She shot him a look as she snatched the clipboard back.

"But I'm supposed to be in the back for this call. You treated Asthma Lady." He took the clipboard out of her hands once again. "What's wrong?"

"Frog, I can handle this." He ignored her and started to move around my medic, but she moved over and stopped him. "I told you. I got this." She shoved him backwards and pointed him towards the officers behind him, "Go see if they need anything else before we leave here. I'm gonna get this."

"Whatever." He shook his head and handed her the clipboard before he shrugged his shoulders and walked off.

After he was gone, she motioned for me to climb in the back of the ambulance and I did as she followed me in. "Now come on in so I can see what's going on." She was sitting on a bench seat in front of a wall of clear storage bins filled with medical supplies as I sat on the stretcher just about a half a foot in front of her in the back of the ambulance. "What happened?"

"I got into an altercation with a suspect. Well, I sort of got into an altercation, but it was more of the wrong place at the wrong time type thing. He shoved me after his ex wife got to the scene. He saw her, flew into a rage and shoved me backwards trying to get out of the way to get to her. I tripped over a flower pot and landed in the grass and when I did, my left arm here caught the brunt of the fall and my shoulder caught the edge of the flower pot." I thought back to the broken pot. "The flower pot didn't survive." The medic laughed as I rotated my left shoulder. "Little sore, but Catherine who is with me on this scene said I had to come get checked out." I let out a sigh, "So here I am."

I watched as she turned around to grab some things off the bins and shelves behind her head. She was busy getting her supplies and didn't notice me watching her and trying to figure her out. The name patch on her black uniform shirt read  _A. Gigandet_  and under that in smaller stitched letters was her job title,  _Paramedic – LVFD_. I started to think in my mind how to say her last name. She put her left hand on her thigh as she turned around to face me and I saw she wasn't wearing a wedding band and there was no evidence of a tan line to suggest she normally wore one but had taken it off. Her curly red hair was pulled back in a messy upswept style held together by a black hair clip. It reminded me of how my sisters fixed their hair when they were late for school.

She turned back around and I averted my eyes to the ceiling of the ambulance, trying to avoid her eyes. "Okay. Let's see how banged up you really are. Look at me, please." She flashed a pen light in front of me, "Any dizziness? Headaches? Nausea?" I shook my head and she continued. "Blurred vision? Loss of consciousness? Do you know what day it is?"

"No, no, no, no, not that I'm aware of and Thursday."

"Mental capabilities seem in tact. That's a good sign so far." She put her pen light down and asked me where it was hurting. I told her and I watched as her fingers began to outline the bone in my shoulder. "If I hurt you, please don't be a martyr and let me know. I'm just checking for broken or dislocated bones. Sounds like you took a pretty bad spill."

I watched as her fingers felt their way up my shoulder and to the side of my neck. She pushed on a point on my shoulder and I couldn't help but wince. "There." She stopped what she was doing and pushed harder on the spot that hurt. "Right there." I winced as she pushed again. She pulled her left hand away from me and wrote something on the form she had on the bench next to her before she put the pen down and turned her attention back to me. I watched as her fingers made their way down my arm and to my wrist. She picked up my hand in hers and interlaced her fingers in mine, supporting the weight of my forearm with her right hand. I watched as she slowly moved my hand in a circle. "Ouch. That too." She gently put my hand back across my chest and picked up her pen again and wrote something underneath what she had written earlier.

"Well. I don't know if it's broken or not, but you definitely need to have an x-ray pulled to be sure. Could be broken, could be dislocated or just a bad sprain. I'd tell you but I left my x-ray goggles at home."

I smiled at her humor, "That's alright. So what's the verdict? Not gonna make it am I?"

"Nope." She looked at me with this deadpan serious expression on her face, "Not likely." She smiled at me, joking back with me with both of us knowing I'd be fine. "I'm going to put you in a sling until you can get to the ED. Keep the arm still as much as possible." She reached beside me to get something out of one of the overhead bins but stopped herself and sat back down to where I could see her, "And no more flower pot 419s."

I smiled again, "I'll try."

She reached again to get the sling out of one of the bins and I caught a slight scent of a fragrance of the body lotion or perfume she was wearing. It smelled like vanilla with a mix of sandalwood and she wore the scent very well. It suited her. "Keep this on." She handed me a sling and I put it around my arm as she tightened it up behind my neck and helped me adjust it to where my arm was properly supported, taking the weight off my sore shoulder. "Can I trust you to go to the doctor, or will you just do what every other cop I treat does?"

"What's that?" She tugged on the strap that went behind my neck when it got caught in my shirt. I used my good hand to help her move the strap out of the way and felt my stomach flip when my fingers brushed against her hand, "And I'm not a cop by the way."

"They all ignore me and take this off as soon as I'm gone. They try to be tough boys but usually wind up causing more harm by not listening to me. I'm the one with the medical training." She sighed, "I don't want to be responsible if your arm turns brown, rots and falls off."

I was about to say something when I saw Catherine coming up. "She'll make sure I go. She's the one that forced me to come over here." I looked around the still nameless paramedic. "Glad I did though." My medic hid a smile as she looked down at the run report form she was finishing with.

"He gonna live?" Catherine looked at me to see what was going on, "How is he?"

She smiled and looked at me, remembering our private joke. She shook her head, "Doubt it. Probably won't make it." She handed me a form on the clipboard she was writing notes on and handed me a pen she got out of the side pocket on her work pants. "Fill this out, please."

I watched Catherine's face fall, "It's a joke, Cath. Calm down. I have to go get an x-ray pulled." I took the form from the medic and filled it in. It was just generic patient information and it didn't take me long to fill it out as I've filled out forms like these every day of my life on crime scenes. I realized as I was filling out the form she handed me, the form I was filling out wasn't that different than the forms I filled out for crime scene victims. The form I was filling out now didn't have a place for cause of death or body location whereas the ones I normally used did.

Catherine and my paramedic started talking as I finished up the form. I looked up in time to see my medic hand Catherine a piece of paper. She folded it and put it in her pocket as I called out to the medic that I was done. I signed the form and handed it back to her as she got back in the ambulance and took her seat on the bench in front of me. I decided then and there that I was going to get her name one way or another before I left, even if I had to fall out of the ambulance and break something. It'd be worth it.

She took the form from me and glanced at it, "Good. Thank you." She put the pen back in the side pocket of her pants, right above a pair of bright purple fabric scissors. "And go to the doctor and get an x-ray pulled."

"I will. I just have one question."

She glanced at the form briefly then turned her head to face me, "And that is what exactly, Mr. Nick Stokes of the LVPD crime scene unit?"

I motioned to the form, "It doesn't tell me your first name." I eyed the stitching on her uniform shirt again. "Or how to pronounce your last name for that matter. Gig-en-dat? Jiggy-and-at? Gig-ee-enn-deet? I've been trying to figure out how to say your name for the last half hour. I give up."

She laughed, "Anna. My first name is Anna and my last name is pronounced Gih-gawn-day." She pronounced it slowly and drawled it out to make her point. "My father is French, originally from Quebec. People butcher it all the time. I've had to endure years of people massacring my last name, especially now that I wear it stitched to my shirt for 48 hours in a row when I take calls for the LVFD. That's why everyone calls me Anna." She took the pen back out of her pocket again and signed the bottom of the form and handed me the pink copy off the back of it. "Take this with you to the hospital." Anna looked at Catherine as I stood up to leave, "And make sure he goes. His shoulder's pretty sore. I can't tell if it's broken or not, but it definitely needs to be x-rayed."

I stepped out of the ambulance and looked back at Anna, "Thanks, Anna." Catherine helped me out of the truck, "And next time, bring the x-ray goggles. Could have saved me a trip."

Anna started to say something but her radio blared out. She held up a finger as she answered, "Go for Medic 78." I listened as the dispatcher gave out another call which caused her to let out an exasperated sigh, "Check, dispatch. En route." The same man who passed by us before ran by her and got in the driver's side of the ambulance before she could get out of the back. I held out my good hand to help her down and she took it, holding on to my hand a bit longer than she needed to. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled again and got in the passenger side of the ambulance as it sped off on their next call. I turned to face Catherine who just shook her head and looked at the ground. "What?"

"She works at the station off Tropicana Boulevard, over by Desert Palms Hospital, which is where I'm taking you."

Catherine read my mind. I was wondering how I'd be able to find out where Anna worked and was working up scenarios in my head that I could use to stop by and see her. We often worked with members of the LVFD on scenes and I was thinking that the next time we had an arson call out, I could go by there and see if the arson investigator was at their station. I knew for a fact he wouldn't be as the investigation offices were downtown at the city municipal building, but it'd give me an excuse none the less. "And how exactly would you know that and why'd you think I was wondering that?"

"Hank. That guy Sara is seeing. He works there at that same station sometimes. Your gal Anna and Sara's friend have worked together a few times when he's not on one of the Angel Rescue helicopters." She motioned for me to follow her to the Tahoe. "And anyone can see what you're thinking, Nick. Not hard. She's cute. She'd be good for you."

"What about mine?" I turned to face my truck. "I can drive myself you know. I'm not that bad off."

"Get in. Now." Catherine stared at me and pointed to her truck, "I'm making sure you go to the hospital. Gil told me to take you." I sighed as she got in the driver's side as I climbed in the passenger side. "Warrick will bring yours back to the station or to the hospital later if you're not too banged up to drive. He rode up here with Gil from another scene earlier at the Tangiers after that suspect ran into Rick's truck. PD had it towed to the garage." She started the truck as she reached for her seatbelt, "And I know she's single."

I smiled to myself at the revelation Anna was single but didn't tell Catherine. I'd never hear the end of it if I let on that I liked her, "Who's single?"

"Nicky." Catherine rolled her eyes, "You can't fool me. I'm taking you to get an x-ray. Then you can stop by and see her."

"And what am I supposed to say to her, Cath? 'Hi, thought I'd stop by because I want to know if you'll have dinner with me?' I don't want to scare her off." I put my seatbelt on and looked at Catherine again, "And I can also say, 'Oh, by the way, I didn't murder any more flower pots.' She'll enjoy hearing that."

Catherine gave me a blank look, "Flower pots?"

I shook my head as I realized she didn't get my in joke with Anna, "Never mind." I watched as the houses in the neighborhood went by one by one as we drove out of the cul-de-sac and made our way to the hospital. "I do want to see if she'd go to dinner with me, but isn't that kind of forward?"

"No. It's not." Catherine reached in her vest pocket and handed me a slip of paper, "Here. Anna gave this to me earlier. She said you might need this."

I opened the paper and looked at the handwriting on it. Anna had written her name and phone number down and signed the note with a smiley face. "Her phone number?"

"Yep. She gave it to me while you were filling out that form. She asked if you were single. I said you were and she asked me to give this to you." We came to a stop at an intersection and Catherine looked at me with a somewhat serious expression, "So gonna call her, or do I need to call her for you?"

The light turned green and we drove through the intersection and turned into the parking lot of the hospital emergency department, "No, I can make my own calls. I'm a big boy. When we get done, I'll call her."

Catherine found a parking spot and got out. I followed her as we made our way to the entrance to the ED, "The station she's as it is right over there." She pointed to a brick building about four blocks away. "We'll stop by when you're done if you want."

The doors opened to the ED and we stepped in. I checked myself in at the desk and sat down in the hard, plastic chairs of the ED waiting to be called back to see the doctor, "Thanks, Cath."

**A/N: I've been to Vegas once about eight years ago. I don't know much about Las Vegas maps and where stuff is since I've slept since then. I know a lot of the locations on CSI are made up, so if there really is a Desert Palms and it's not over by Tropicana Boulevard, remember one thing – this is Fiction!**

**Reviews always welcome! Anonymous reviews are allowed, so review for me. Please…Or Nick will murder another flower pot!**


	2. Soul Meets Body

**Chapter 2 – Soul Meets Body**

"Keep it wrapped and stay off work a couple days. I want you to alternate between ice and heat at ten minute intervals if the pain becomes too intense." The ED doc who was giving me the once over turned around to write something in my chart. Bored, I watched as he scribbled for a minute before turning back to face me as he reached in the front pocket of his lab coat and pulled out his prescription pad. "Any allergies?"

I shook my head, "Not a one."

He went back to scribbling and ripped off two sheets and handed them to me. I looked at the illegible writing on both prescriptions, trying to figure out what they were for. "First one is for the pain. Second one is an anti-inflammatory." He put his pad back in his pocket and clipped his pen to his shirt. "You'll be okay in a couple days but take it easy. No heavy lifting. No work." He handed me two more papers. "The top one is a review of what I've told you and the bottom is a release about when you can go back to work. Come back if the swelling doesn't go down, you've got tingling in your extremities or if you have problems breathing or have any loss of consciousness from the medications."

Wanting to ask how I would know if I became unconscious from the medication, I shook his hand as he led me out into the hallway and a nurse took me up front to the waiting room to sign me out. I signed another form and she handed me a copy as I opened the door into the waiting room. I looked for Catherine and saw both her and Warrick waiting on me in the waiting room.

"So what's the prognosis? Gonna live?" Catherine saw me come out and stood up. She looked pleased about something and I was fairly confident it had something to do with Anna. My mind began to play out the scenarios in my head and I was bouncing back and forth between her calling Anna for me or doing something on my behalf without my knowledge, "Tahoe's outside. Warrick brought it. You can go see Anna now."

"Yeah, Cath said for me to bring it so you could go see her when you get done up here seeing as how she's just up the road a bit. Got yours from the scene and brought it up here and then Greg took me back to the station to get one from the motor pool and I came up here to make sure you were okay. On the Anna note, way to go, man! You finally got an actual breathing, living woman who wasn't a victim of a crime to speak to you. Knew it was going to happen eventually. Law of averages."

Warrick tossed me my keys to the Tahoe. I caught them easily and put them in my jacket pocket along with the prescriptions and the forms the doctor gave me. "You told him, huh? Thanks a lot for the support system here. Both of you." I shook my head and stared at the ground. I was embarrassed enough with how Anna and I met and now I was having to endure the ribbing from not only Catherine but Warrick as well. At least Catherine was subtle.

"Actually, Catherine didn't tell me about her. I saw you talking to her at the crime scene. I did ask about her afterwards and she said she gave you her number, or gave it to Cath really. Anna's a cute gal. Let me know if things don't work out between the two of you. Course, I may have to fight Sanders off also if things don't work out. He's interested your gal as well but apparently she only had eyes for you." Warrick turned to lead Catherine and me out into the ED parking lot so we could leave. He got in his Tahoe and started it up and rolled the window down, "So need me to go say hi or something with you? Introduce myself? Tag along for moral support? Cath said she's right across the street. I could go if you want me to."

"Not just no, but hell no on all counts. I think I can handle things on my own but thanks for bringing my truck back up here." Last thing I needed was someone else interfering in my personal life more so than they already were. "I'm gonna call her as soon as I can." Warrick seemed satisfied and drove off, leaving me in the parking lot with Catherine. I reached in my pocket for the keys to the truck and turned to face her, "Thank you."

Catherine was far from placated with my response, "Call her, Nicky."

I rolled my eyes, "I am. I will. I promise. I'm going to drop these prescriptions off at the pharmacy, and then I'll call her."

She said nothing as she reached for my vest pocket and pulled out my cell phone. Before I could stop her, she reached into the pocket on the other side of my vest and got Anna's number. Catherine turned around quickly and walked a few steps in front of me and dialed Anna's number and tossed me the phone. "Now talk to her."

I caught my phone and held it to my ear as it started to ring. By now, I couldn't hang up and Catherine stuck the piece of paper back in my vest and smiled, pleased with herself. "You do know that I can make it look like an accident, right? Remember that for later."

It rang twice more before Anna picked up. "Hello?"

I took a deep breath, "Anna?"

"You got her. Who's this?"

I shot Catherine a look once more before I answered, "Nick. Nick Stokes. You know from…"

She cut me off, "Ah, the flower pot murderer. I was hoping you'd call as I didn't get your number from Catherine. Happy you did call."

"I'm never gonna live that one down am I?"

She said no and laughed, "Not any time soon at least. So how's the arm?"

"Fine. Sprained shoulder and sprained wrist. Got a prescription for some drugs and I'm on my way to the all night pharmacy now, but thought I'd call you so you'd have my number."

Catherine started waving her arms, trying to get my attention. I turned away from her, doing my best to ignore her. When I turned around, that didn't stop her from moving in front of me. "Tell her you're across the street, Nicky!"

I turned around to shush Catherine but it was too late. Anna heard her, "You're still at the hospital? Come by and come say hi to me. We made dinner earlier, or I did really. We've been so busy this afternoon that we're just now getting to eat. Thank God for microwaves. There's plenty left over for you if you're hungry. I promise not to scare you off but I can't say the same for my partner."

Even though I was trying to think of a way to get out of it, I could tell Anna wanted me to come over and I did want to go see her but I was also nervous as hell. I also knew Catherine wouldn't let me out of this no matter how hard I tried and I didn't even want to think about what she'd do if I didn't go. About the only excuse I think of to pacify Catherine was if I needed emergent care for a dismembered limb or if I suddenly needed to be on life support because I got ran over by a city bus. Just my luck that I didn't see a chainsaw anywhere nearby and no busses came through the back part of the parking lot where we were.

I glanced to my left towards Tropicana Boulevard when a thought hit me. _Maybe if I took off running to the street…_

I shook my head to rid it of the though. Even then, I'm sure Catherine would find a way to embarrass me with Anna and with me being nearby, she'd be the one to come scrape me off the side of the road. Against my better judgment and trying to calm my nerves, I took the plunge, "I'll be over in just a minute. Let me drop these prescriptions off at the store and I'll be over." Glancing over at Catherine, she folded her arms across her chest and gave me a nod of approval, "That is if it's okay."

"Of course it is. Park around the left side of the building next to our cars and come up the sidewalk to get in. Just knock on the door and one of us will let you in. We're all still up so see you in a bit."

We said goodbye and I turned to face Catherine as I unlocked my truck. "Happy now? She invited me to the station for dinner." Sirens started up in the background and I turned around and noticed a fire truck pull out of the station where Anna was. I felt an instant of relief as I watched the fire truck exit the building and make a right turn, heading away from where we were.

I thought that an excuse for me not to go was pulling out of the station now and Catherine apparently read my mind, "No. Nicky, no." I threw my jacket in the Tahoe, relieved to not have to go see Anna.

Catherine moved around me and got my jacket back out and dug the prescriptions out of the pocket. "That wasn't her, Nick. She's in the ambulance and that's still in the station. You go see her and I'll drop these off for you. I'm not giving you any excuse to avoid going to see her. Anna likes you, and obviously by how you're acting, you like her or this wouldn't be this hard for you. I know you're trying to come up with a reason not to go and I'm not going to give you one so don't even think about running out in the street and getting hit by a bus. I'd still make you go, so go!"

I was busted. "I am not." I kept my eyes on Catherine as she got in her Tahoe and pulled out of the parking lot. I followed her out and as she drove by the station, I could tell she was watching me in her rearview mirror to make sure I pulled into the fire department lot, rather than chicken out as I so desperately wanted to. Vowing to hurt Catherine by any means necessary to inflict excruciating pain if this ended badly, I sighed once more and pulled into an empty parking spot and shut the truck off before I started to make my way up the sidewalk by the building to the door where Anna told me to come in.

I was about to knock when the door opened. As it did, a rush of air blew past Anna and once more, I got to smell the vanilla scent she wore so well. "Glad you could make it. Come on in. We're by ourselves. Engine company just had a call, so it's me, you and my partner. He's just sitting down to eat." She let the door shut behind her as she accidentally bumped into me before turning to face me as she gently put her hand on my chest to keep me from moving right away, "I need to apologize in advance for him. You'll see why. I think he was dropped on his head a few times or ate the lead based paint on his crib railing as an infant." Dropping her hand, she looked up at me and smiled before turning around to lead me to the kitchen. For the second time in less than five minutes, just the touch from Anna on my body gave me goose bumps.

Shaking that feeling off, I followed her into the kitchen, curious to see what was going on with this partner of hers. The few minutes earlier in the night didn't lead me to believe he was anything but normal, but I also didn't know him as well as Anna did. Curious to find out more, I followed her and that sweet vanilla fragrance she wore into the kitchen. "Nick, Bryan. Bryan, Nick."

"The flower pot murderer from earlier? Bryan Brooks. Welcome to our humble abode." He stood up to shake my hand. "Aggie hasn't shut up about you since she treated you earlier. She threatened me under penalty of death if I didn't let her treat you. Did you see that look she gave me earlier when we were at the scene? She meant it too. Rest assured, it made her day. Hell, probably made her year."

I turned to face Anna and as I did, she hurled a wooden spoon at Bryan. It missed the side of his head by inches and hit the wall before it bounced to the floor. "You. Out!" She pointed towards the hallway we just came in. "Now!" She picked up another wooden spoon and held it, poised to throw it in his direction again if he didn't leave.

"Fine. Fine. I'll leave the two of you alone before I sustain trauma from you throwing kitchen utensils at me. I'd hate to know what you'd start hurling at me when we're out of spoons." Bryan picked up his plate, "Doubt if that'd be workers comp worthy to have to explain why my work wife threw a blender at my head." He picked up his drink and walked out, turning the opposite way from the direction we came in. I heard him quietly laugh to himself at the situation before he turned the TV on in the common area.

"Sorry about that. He's obnoxious as anything, but I love him to death. He's my best friend, but if he stays in here, you'll probably run away screaming. I promise you. I'm normal." Anna turned to face the table where the food was. "Lasagna okay? I make really good homemade lasagna. Station favorite." She handed me a plate and a fork. "Help yourself."

"Work wife?" I hadn't heard the term before, "I thought you weren't married?"

"Oh, I'm not." Anna groaned, "Term of endearment. Bryan and I spend so much time together up here that he jokes with his wife that he has two wives. He has his real wife and his work wife, which is me. Lucky for me, Cathy, his real wife, and I are as good of friends as Bryan and I are. She thinks it's funny." She dug out a slice for herself and put it on her plate and opened the refrigerator. "Whatcha want to drink? We have tea, Coke, Sprite, water, something that looks like it was once pink lemonade in a past life and Mountain Dew." She brought a can of Mountain Dew out for herself and turned to me.

"Same. Dew fan too?"

"Oh, God yes. When you work the hours we work and get your sleep interrupted most nights, it helps me stay awake." Anna got a second can out for me and brought both cans over to the table where Bryan was sitting before she chased him out of the room with the wooden spoon. She brought her plate over and sat it where Bryan was sitting and I sat across from her. She set my can next to me and sat down in her chair after picking up the spoon and tossing it in the sink on the opposite side of the room. "Hope you like it. I've been told it's good."

I took a bite of the lasagna and as I tasted it, I realized that this was the best thing I'd eaten in quite some time. "You weren't kidding when you said you made good lasagna." I took another bite. "This is great."

"My mother's recipe. So, how's the arm?"

I gave her a run down on what the doctor told me in more detail than I did on the phone earlier. "So I'm going to be off the next couple days. Doc didn't want me going back to work too soon and injuring it even more." I swallowed a drink of Mountain Dew, "Why'd he call you Aggie?"

"Nickname. My last name is so hard to pronounce and as a result, people here at work started calling me AG and it eventually morphed into Aggie. Bryan sometimes calls me Aggs. It's kind of a work thing. Everyone else outside of the fire department calls me Anna."

"Thought it might have been a Texas thing, you know, Texas A&M Aggies. Longhorn fan myself."

"Uh oh." Anna set her fork down on her plate and looked at me. "That may be a problem."

"What will be?"

She gave me the same deadpan serious expression look again she gave me earlier when she was treating me. It was the same look she gave me before joking with me about my arm, so I knew whatever she was about to say was to be taken lightly. Anna shook her head and sighed. "You're a Texas fan?" I said I was and she continued. "I'm an Arkansas Razorbacks fan. We're sworn mortal enemies during football season. I expect the bloodshed to be horrific this fall. Lucky for you, I'm a paramedic. But wait a minute." She trailed off as she thought of something, "Didn't Arkansas beat Texas last year?"

I thought back to the game and the final score where my Horns got beaten by almost forty points. "Yeah. As I remember, it wasn't pretty. At all. Did Texas even show up?"

"Don't think they did at least not from what I saw. Bryan and I were there." She pushed up the sleeve of her shirt and held out her arm towards me bringing with it the soft scent of the vanilla fragrance as she smiled at me, "See?" She showed me her watch. It was a silver watch with a red Razorback in the middle of it. "I graduated from University of Arkansas. I moved out here about eight years ago." Anna sighed as she continued to give me the serious but joking expression, "I knew there had to be a flaw with you somehow. Just didn't expect it to be this serious. What to do?"

"After the beating Texas took, I need to denounce myself anyway. I can be a Razorbacks fan if need be. How'd you wind up out here?"

"Followed an ex-boyfriend out to San Francisco. He got a job there and I followed him out there with Bryan in tow. Bryan and I had already talked about moving from Arkansas. We've been best friends since we were born since we grew up next door to each other. I've always been closer to him than my own sister." Anna took another bite of her dinner, "Anyway, I wasn't happy in Arkansas after we graduated from the U of A and neither was he. My then boyfriend at the time had taken a job in San Fran and was getting ready to move. Bryan has a cousin who works for the SFPD and the cousin told us about some openings at the SFFD, so we interviewed and they hired us on the spot. When the relationship I was in fell apart, I knew I didn't want to go back home to Arkansas, so I decided to stay out in that area. Bryan had already met who would be his future wife while we were working in San Fran. Then shortly after they met, they got married and moved here to Vegas after she got a job at Desert Palms as one of the charge nurses on the ICU floors. After they left, I stayed at the SFFD for another four months or so, but didn't like it much without my partner in crime, so Bryan tells me the LVFD was hiring. I came here for an interview and here I am." She polished off the rest of the lasagna on her plate and took both my plate and hers and put them in the sink and sat down next to me, rather than across the table from me. "What about you?"

"Graduated at Texas and got a job with the Dallas PD. I stayed there, but my father is a judge and I got tired of being known as 'Judge Stokes's kid.' I didn't ever get a break at work and people were going out of their way to kiss my butt. It got really old, so I moved out here after taking the job at the LVPD and I love it. Heat can be a bit much, but the group I work with is fantastic. Almost like my family away from home."

She stood up and I followed her, "TV? I think Bryan's probably already asleep by now, so it's safe to go out and if he's not, I'll throw the TV at him or something to get him to leave. I was lucky. I got a nap earlier in the day in between calls, but Bryan's been going since yesterday when we started shift."

I stared at Anna a minute before I responded, "I can see you doing that too."

"Figure of speech mostly. The guys would kill me if I broke the TV. In any event, we've got a DVD player and tons of movies and an Xbox. We play Doom against the other stations." She took my hand and interlaced her fingers with mine and grabbed her drink with her free hand and took me into the common area of the station.

I could see through a huge picture window on the opposite side of the wall from where we were standing was a direct view into the bay area of the station. The ambulance she was in earlier as well as another fire department vehicle was parked in there next to a row of lockers and some benches. The room we were in was on the small side, but two recliners and a couch were against one wall opposite from the TV and entertainment center which was next to the windows that led out into the front yard of the station. Anna put her drink on the end table next to the couch and sat down. I sat next to her as she reached across me to the table to get the remote to the TV, again filling my senses with the intoxicating scent of the vanilla fragrance she wore. "Any requests?" She dangled the remote between two fingers as she looked at me.

I started to say something, but my phone buzzed in my pocket. I got it out and looked at the front display and saw that I had a text message. "Sorry about that. It may be work." I opened it up and saw Catherine's name in the message. "Catherine. Probably making sure I didn't chicken out." I hit the button to read the message and laughed as I read it. " _Just making sure you didn't leave the station after you got out of my line of sight. Have fun. Tell Anna hi for me. C_ " I handed my phone to Anna so she could read it. "Catherine was scared I wouldn't call you. She actually grabbed the phone away from me and dialed your number before I could stop her."

I watched as she read the message and smiled, "Tell her you didn't chicken out. You put on your big boy underoos all by yourself."

She handed me back my phone just as one of the bay doors at the back of the station opened and the fire truck that left earlier pulled into the open spot. Anna got up to open the door as the four men got out and came in through the side door she was holding open. They barely paid me any attention as they went to the kitchen to fix dinner. One of them did stop to look at me, but yawned and started towards the kitchen, "Dinner ready, Aggie?"

"Yeah." The guys started to walk off, but Anna stopped the one that stared at me, "Thunder, tell Zeus and Mongo not to eat it all this time. Relief shift is still pissed over the last time." I turned my attention back to Anna who sat down after she shut the door. "My co-workers you'd think never eat unless they're up here and I cook."

"Your co-workers names are Zeus and Thunder? Did their parents not like them as children?"

"No." Anna laughed, "Nicknames. We all have one around here. You know mine. Bryan's is Bullfrog. Thunder is Brandon and Zeus is Dany. The other one who didn't speak is Mongo AKA David. We all have our station nicknames and our given names are rarely if ever used anymore up here unless we're being yelled at by the department lieutenant who is in charge of making sure we stay in line and his nickname changes from day to day depending on his mood." She started to absentmindedly flip through channels and she finally stopped on a hockey game. "Watch hockey any?"

I shook my head, "Not really. Co-worker of mine is into it but I never did watch much, but this is fine. Explain it to me?"

I listened as Anna gave me a crash course in Hockey 101 and told me the ins and outs of how the game was played. I still didn't understand much of what she said, but I liked listening to her talk. She reached across me again and once again, the scent she wore drifted across me as she got a swallow of her drink and set it down. She noticed me staring at her, "What? I didn't want you to sit on this side of me because of your arm, but the only table's over there. I'm sorry."

"No, no. Nothing like that, it's just…" I faded off. "You smell good. What is that? Vanilla and sandalwood?"

Anna looked surprised that I recognized the scent she wore. "Very good. One of my favorite scents from one of the bath stores in the mall. You like it I take it?"

"Very much so. Every time I see you, I get a trace of that and it smells good. It suits you." I looked over her shoulder, "Did your team just score?"

Anna turned her attention back to the game and leaned back into me. "Yep." We stayed like that until the game was over with. One of the firemen from earlier joined us in the room for a little bit. Anna and the guy she called Zeus were cheering on their team together as she was leaning into me. I had brought my arm around her middle and was resting it on her stomach.

She yawned at me as I noticed the clock above the TV. "I better let you get to bed. I need to stop by the store and pick up my meds and head home myself." Anna stretched and straightened up as she stood up and held out her hand. I took it in mine as she yawned again. "What time do you get off?"

"At seven tomorrow morning. I'm off the next four days. We work 48 hours, then off four days, then work two days, then off four days. Love my schedule. How long are you off work?"

"My regular days off are Sunday and Monday anyway but we've been so busy I'm usually working but as it stands, I'll go back to work Tuesday. ED doc wanted me off four days, so that'll be tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday and Monday." I took one of her hands in mine as I heard my heart pounding in my chest from nerves, "Can I call you tomorrow? We can go out or something."

Anna looked up at me, "You better." She walked with me to the same door we came in earlier and stepped out into the cool night air as we walked out to my truck. "I've been here in Vegas almost eight years and it still amazes me it can be so hot during the day, but the temperature change can be so drastic at night."

I hit the button on the remote entry on my truck and watched the lights flashed and heard it unlock. I turned to face Anna again and brought her into me in a hug, breathing in the vanilla scent once again. "Go back in and go to bed. I'll call you tomorrow. What time do you get up?"

Even though I had pulled her into an embrace and couldn't see her face, I heard her yawn again. "It doesn't matter." She pulled away from me just enough so I could look at her face. "Just whenever. I don't have any plans."

I put my right hand under her chin and gently lifted it up so I was looking into her brown eyes. "I will tomorrow morning. I promise." I looked at her a moment longer, hesitating on what to do next. Her eyes were locked with mine as I slowly bent down to softly kiss her lips, meeting once, then twice before finally meeting them for good the third time. I felt her arms tighten around my waist as I pulled away from her ever so slightly after we were done.

She pulled me back in closer to her and reached up again to kiss me once more and yawned again when she finished. "Sorry. I really am wiped. Busy night."

I kissed her once more and told her to go back in. She stood back from my truck as I got in and started it up. I shut the door and rolled the window down. I turned in the seat to touch her cheek with my right hand. I pulled her in again to kiss her. "See you tomorrow." I was whispering so low, it was barely audible, but she heard me as she was still close to me.

"It can't come fast enough. I look forward to it."

She stepped back from the truck so I could back out and waved as I drove off. I looked back in my rearview mirror as I was leaving the station lot and watched her walk inside as I drove towards the direction of the pharmacy Catherine had dropped my prescriptions off at. My only thoughts were how much I was looking forward to seeing her again tomorrow and how I was eternally grateful that Catherine had dialed Anna's number earlier in the night. I got to the intersection where I turned to pull into the all night pharmacy. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and wrote Catherine back a reply to her earlier text. " _Thank you. For everything. I'll explain later."_ I sent the message and shut the phone and put it in the cup holder and got out to walk inside to get my meds and go home to bed.

**Fire trucks are red. Smurfs are blue. Be sweet to me and leave me a review or you know what Nick will be forced to do!**


	3. I Need You Now

**A/N: Just to clarify something – it's implied in my story Greg is already a CSI even though on the show, he didn't become a CSI in the show until later on in the seasons. I realized this after I was proofing over my own story before I posted it. That's the glory of fiction. I can do what I want. This problem will come up a few times in upcoming chapters. I've already gotten several of the later chapters of this story typed out, so when those chapters are posted, you'll see some songs mentioned in them that weren't released at the time this story takes place according to the CSI DVD timeline, but relax and go with it. I've got a general idea on where this story is going and I've gotten about four of the later chapters already typed, so now I just need to bridge the gap. As of right now, one of the chapters is twelve pages long.**

**Chapter 3 – I Need You Now**

After getting my meds from the pharmacy, I went home and downed some pain pills with a glass of water and changed into a pair of sweat pants and a tank top. I turned the TV on in my room to finish the DVD I started yesterday and went to lie down in my bed and the next thing I knew, sunlight was peering through my windows in my bedroom as I realized I had slept most of the night. I got up and made my way into the kitchen to fix myself some coffee. Still bleary eyed, I mechanically poured the grounds into the machine and added water and got the paper from outside before I fell out on the couch again. My shoulder wasn't as sore as it was last night, but it clearly let me know by the dull, aching throb of pain that I was still injured.

My coffee maker beeped to signal the brew was done. I opened the cupboard to pull out a coffee cup and saw it was empty. Looking behind me, the sink was full of dirty dishes and the few coffee cups I had were right where I left them. Sighing, I didn't want to wash everything and settled on washing a few plates and some spoons before finishing up with the coffee cups, setting all in the dish rack next to the sink. I found a dish towel and dried one of my cups and as I poured my coffee, I finally realized it was nearing close to nine in the morning. Remembering what Anna had said last night about getting off at seven, I found my phone and dialed her number as I sipped on the hot coffee I just poured.

"Morning, Sunshine! How's the arm?"

I smiled, "Hey Anna. I'm doing better. Still hurts, but the pain pill I took last night knocked me unconscious and I'm just now getting up. You off work yet?"

"Nope. Late call. Unfortunately, if a call comes in at one minute til seven, we have to take it and not relief and that's exactly what happened today. We're just leaving Desert Palms now. We should be wrapped up here within half an hour, then I gotta go back to the station and finish up some paperwork, then I'll be done. Give any thought to what's on the agenda today?"

I was glancing over at the paper as she was talking, "Las Vegas has a hockey team, right?"

"Yep. The Las Vegas Wranglers. Their building is over by the station. Thinking on taking me?"

I flipped over to the sports section. "We're in luck. There's a game tonight. They play the Bakersfield Condors tonight. Interested?"

"With you as my date, how could I object? Hey, I work there part time as a medic for the Orleans Arena. I can get the tickets for us so that won't be a problem. We're given ticket allotments for the year based on how many days we work. I know I can get us a couple."

"Sounds great. So what time?" I checked my watch. "It's about 9:30 now. Wanna grab lunch or something before we go?"

"Hold on." I heard Anna put the phone down and tell someone that they were on their way back. "Sorry bout that, radio is yelling at us to hurry up and bring the truck back. Lunch is fine. Want me to come to your house or you come to mine or what? I don't actually live in Las Vegas. I live in Summerlin, but my house is really easy to get to or I can just come to yours." She stopped herself when her partner asked her a question and answered that before turning her attention back to me. "I'll leave that up to you."

I wanted to see where she lived, so I told her I'd pick her up, "Just give me directions to your house and a time to meet you."

"Just make sure you shut the gate tightly. I don't need to go wrestling horses again."

"Horses?"

"Yeah, I have six. I used to race. Do you ride?"

I let Anna tell me a little bit about her horses and I told her about my horse back home at my parents' house. Before I knew it, I heard the sound of a car door opening and closing and an engine starting. "Leaving now?"

"Yes, leaving finally. Paperwork can wait." She gave me her address and directions and said she'd be home in a couple hours and for me to stop by any time after eleven.

I passed the rest of the morning watching TV before finally getting up to shower and shave as best as I could one handed. I got dressed and put my sling back on and grabbing my keys, wallet and cell phone, headed out the door and got in my truck to go to Anna's.

Her directions were really easy to follow and I found her house in about half an hour after I left my apartment. Living off a dirt road, she lived in a more rural part of Summerlin, almost in the next town. The area she was in was unincorporated but was still considered Summerlin. Anna's house sat on probably forty acres and the front of her property was lined with pine trees and a three rail wooden horse fence. I pulled into her driveway and opened the gate as she instructed me to do and got back in my truck and pulled in the gate and got out once more and shut it, looking out for her horses. The only thing I saw was her house and behind it, a large, red barn with the doors opened. It was warm outside, but not unbearable and if I knew horses, they were all probably in the barn.

I parked behind a black Nissan Xterra with Nevada firefighter plates that was pulled in to the left side of the carport, figuring that was Anna's. I tried to think back to what cars were in the parking lot last night, but I was so nervous that I don't even remember. On the other side of the Xterra was a Chevy Z71 pickup truck, also with firefighter plates but it was parked just out of the carport. I got out of my truck and made my way up to the door and knocked.

The door opened and there was Anna's partner from last night. "Oh, hey again CSI Man." Bryan extended his hand and I shook it. "Aggie's round that way in the back. She told me you were on your way over at eleven." He checked his watch, "And as usual, she's late. That's par for the course with her, but you'll find that out soon enough. She was teaching Cody how to swim earlier after we got off work. I live down that way." He pointed towards the northern part of Anna's property. "Bought the house right after she bought this one." He picked up the little blonde haired kid standing beside him as the child just stared hard at me, trying to figure out who I was. He evidently gave up and laid his head down on his dad's shirt. "Just follow the hall that way." He motioned over his shoulder, "Then make left. Door's there and she's probably still in there swimming laps."

After I told them thank you, Bryan and Cody left me alone standing in the living room of Anna's house. I watched through one of the windows as he strapped the little boy in the car seat of his truck and drove off.

I surveyed the room before I started walking in the direction Bryan pointed. The window I was watching Bryan through looked out to the front yard. Next to that, a stone fireplace was on the next wall with bookshelves on either side. Picture frames of every shape and size were on the shelves with photos of who I guessed to be her family members as well as Bryan and who I assumed to be his wife. What struck me as odd was there wasn't one picture of Anna's parents or her sister that she mentioned. Every picture was either of her or Bryan's family.

I made a mental note to ask Anna about that as I continued my survey. A couch and an older table were against the other wall with two more windows behind it. A red Razorbacks blanket was lying over the arm rest of the couch next to a pillow and a black and orange cat was perched in one of the windows next to the couch, watching birds outside the windows as they flitted about in the huge oak tree outside. Realizing I was in the room, the cat turned to watch me, hissed and ran off.

I left the cat alone as I walked by a kitchen, a small dining area and a half bath before I came to the glass door at the end of the hallway at the very back of the house. I looked out and saw an indoor lap pool enclosed in a glass sunroom that overlooked the back yard. The sunlight was motioning off the waves in the pool creating a light show on the wall beside the door. I turned the handle and let myself in the room and I made my way down the concrete steps as my eyes fixed on a form in the water. Anna was swimming laps in the pool and wasn't aware I was here. She was wearing a purple two piece Speedo and was swimming fairly quickly. When she got to the end of the pool in front of me, in one motion, she flipped over and pushed off the wall with her legs, starting her journey down towards the other end. Once she got down there, again she did a flip turn and gracefully swam back towards me. A large Doberman mixed with who knows what else spotted my presence and started to bark. Rather than flip again, Anna stopped swimming and came up. "Oh, hey."

She pulled herself out of the pool and wrapped a light blue beach towel around her body before putting her flip flops on and making her way to where I was standing. "Draco, shush!" The dog looked at her and after making a circle in its bed, went to lie back down, but kept an eye on me. "Sorry bout that. I meant to be ready by now, but as you can tell, I'm not."

"It's ok. Bryan said you were teaching Cody how to swim? I'm guessing that's Bryan's kid?" I eyed Draco, watching me from his bed. "He bite? I'd rather not be turned into a large human chew toy."

Anna pulled her hair to one side and started twisting it to wring out some of the water. "Draco is a she actually and she won't unless you try to hit me or move too fast."

At the mention of her name, Draco got out of her bed, stretched and walked towards me and began to sniff my jeans. I looked up at Anna, "Um…"

"Just stand still and don't move." She finished wringing out her hair as the dog continued to inspect me. Satisfied I meant her or her owner no harm, she trotted off inside after Anna opened the door. "Draco's very protective of me. She does that to everyone who comes over. If she doesn't like you, she'll growl. Considering how she trotted off, you passed her test. She likes you."

I thought about the dog's massive jaws and bone crushing teeth. "Just as long as she doesn't like me as a side item, doused in A1 Sauce. Aren't Dobermans supposed to have pointed ears?"

Anna laughed, "Yeah they are, but only if you get them docked. She's not a full blooded Dobie anyway. She's a Dobie and something else. Pound puppy I got when I moved to Las Vegas but don't worry about her. You're fine. Oh, about Cody. Yes, he's Bryan's son. Cody's four. Bryan and his wife Cathy live about a mile down the road. They're planning on putting in a pool this summer and want to make sure Cody knows how to swim. I see the arm's looking good. Still using the sling as directed I hope?" Anna sat down in one of the lounge chairs at the end of the pool and I followed her. "I just need to drip dry for a minute before I go making my way into the house."

"Yeah, keeping it as still as possible. Still kinda hurts a lot."

She got up a little bit later after she told me more about Bryan and his wife and how Bryan met Cathy. I caught Anna before we walked back inside and kissed her, tasting the pool water on her lips. "Saline?"

"Yeah, I filled it with saline rather than chlorine. Easier to maintain and easier to keep clean." She reached forward, being careful not to get me wet and kissed me before we headed back inside. She tucked the end of the towel in and wore it like a dress, leading me into the den. "I'm gonna go hop in the shower." She tossed me a DirecTV remote after turning the TV on. "Just help yourself. Give me about 30 and I'll be back." She kissed me once more before disappearing into the back part of the house, leaving me alone in the room that I walked through earlier, scaring the cat.

I lost myself in the TV and didn't even notice Anna coming back up front. The faint scent of vanilla filled the air again as she sat down next to me. She had put on a pair of jeans and a green fitted Las Vegas Wranglers t-shirt and grey tennis shoes with black highlights. She had blown dry her hair and let it fall naturally behind her. "So what's on the agenda? Other than hockey of course."

I checked my watch, "Well, the game doesn't start until seven, so lunch of course first. I'm starved. Then after that, I don't know. We'll figure that one out when we get to it." I looked at her green t-shirt. "I don't have anything Wranglers."

Anna smiled and disappeared out of the room and came back, holding a sweatshirt. "There. Now we match. You're a true hockey fan now."

I held it out and it was about four sizes too large for her frame, but I knew it'd fit me. I tucked the shirt over my arm that was resting in the sling and took Anna's hand in my free hand and we went outside.

"This yours?" Anna stopped to look at my black Toyota Tundra parked in her driveway.

"Yep. They frown on us taking our department vehicles out if we're not on a scene or on call. I'm not on call again until Tuesday, so I can drive mine and not have to worry about switching vehicles if I get a page." I hit the button on the remote and the truck unlocked and Anna started to reach for the door handle when I stopped her, "Allow me." I opened the door and she got in, "My mother would never let me hear the end of it if I didn't use my manners." I shut her door and walked to my side of the truck and got in and we took off.

I didn't want to go into Vegas just yet, so Anna suggested a café not too far from her house in Summerlin. "They have the best cheeseburgers here." She shoved the door open and held it so I could come in. We were seated quickly and she ordered a cheeseburger and fries for herself and a strawberry milkshake. I ordered the same, but had a chocolate shake with mine.

We talked as we waited on our food to get here. Anna told me a little about her family back in Arkansas and I told her about mine back in Texas. The more we talked, the more I liked her. She was extremely easy to talk to and fun to be around.

"I do have one question for you though."

The waitress brought our shakes and Anna went to work on hers right away, "Ask away."

I took a drink of mine and stirred the shake with the straw, "I'm not trying to be nosy or anything, but I noticed at your house that you don't have many family pictures of your family. It's all Bryan and work stuff."

Anna sighed, "We're not close. They don't believe I made a good choice moving to San Francisco all those years ago and hold it against me." She stopped herself, "No." Sighing, she copied my movement and began to stir her own milkshake, "Actually, we've never been close. Bryan's family is my family for the most part. They're really the only ones to care."

I tried to be supportive as I listened to Anna describe her rocky childhood with her absentee parents but warmed up to the idea of Bryan being in her life when she told me some of the things that both he and his parents did for her as a child. Apparently, he and his parents showed Anna what a real family was about. I just wished I could delve deeper into why Anna's family was as broken up as they were, but that was best saved for another conversation. Steering the conversation towards a more happy ground, I started telling the story of the time my sister and I decided to run away from home after we were forced to muck stalls after bad grades at school, "So there we were. Jillian and I were in the barn together, saddling up horses. Mom came outside with two backpacks and handed me one and handed my sister the other. When Jill asked what they were for, my mother smiled and said she didn't want us to be so far away from home and not have food. My mother had packed a bunch of sandwiches with some Kool-Aid pouches to make sure we didn't starve." I smiled as I remembered the day, "Anyway, I was still mad at mom and dad and got on my horse and bolted out of the barn with my sister right behind me."

Anna started to smile, "And you were back before sunset?"

I let out something akin to a snort, "Yeah. I think Jillian and I made it a few houses down before we admitted we missed our home. She turned around and left first. I stayed out a few more hours but realized how stupid I was being so I went on home."

The waitress brought our food out. As I was about to take a bite, I happened to look up at the door. "Oh, God no." I put my burger down. "How in the hell did they find me?" I shook my head and looked in the direction again at the impending doom walking towards me. "What's next? Locusts? Meteor shower?"

Anna put hers down, "Nick, what?" She twisted around in her seat to see what was upsetting me.

"You know how the other night you had to apologize for Bryan?"

"Yeah, I usually do that to people who don't know him. Who are you seeing?"

I watched as Greg and Warrick made their way to our booth. "Well you're about to find out. Now it's my turn to apologize. I promise you, I'm the normal one." I put my hand across my forehead as I waited my impending doom.

"Well, well. How goes it Miss Lady Medic and Nick?" Warrick sat down on the other side of Anna while Greg took the empty chair next to me. "Warrick Brown." He held out his hand as Anna shook it. "You must be the infamous Anna that's got Nick all tangled up. Pleasure to meet you."

Anna looked surprised, "Infamous? Wow. That's a first."

Greg extended his hand, "Greg Sanders. Nice to finally meet you."

I knew this was going to end badly if I didn't get a handle on the situation. "What'd y'all do? Get all dressed up to crash my date?" Warrick and Greg were both dressed in black dress pants and pressed, button down shirts.

"Naw, Rick and I had court out in Summerlin for that B&E that was tied to that string in Vegas. Headed back from Vegas and saw your truck out there Nicky my boy and thought we'd take a gamble and see if Anna was with you and if she was, we'd say hi and see her for ourselves."

"Alright, fine. You've seen her. You've met her and said hi. Now go, please." I was desperate to get the two of them out of the restaurant before any permanent damage could be done. "Say goodbye. Both of you. Now."

"Greg, I think we're being dissed. It's like he doesn't want us here."

"I don't."

The waitress came over, "Will the two of you be staying?"

"No, they won't." I nudged Greg, trying to get him up, but he didn't move.

"Yes we will." Warrick looked at my uneaten meal, "Looks good. Bring me one of those with a Coke. Greg?"

"Same, only I want a chocolate shake, too."

The waitress scribbled the order on a ticket and headed off to the kitchen and leaving me alone with Anna and my two co-workers. I knew that after the damage they caused was done and the dust settled, they would leave me watching as Anna took off into the desert sun, screaming and running away from us all.

The waitress appeared a moment later and brought out the drinks for Warrick and Greg and told us their food would be up shortly. She left to go back to the kitchen and I stood up. "Switch seats. Now." I picked up my plate with my free hand and looked at Warrick. "You sit by Greg. I'll sit by Anna." Warrick got up and he and I played musical chairs until I was safely next to Anna and Warrick was across the table with Greg.

Anna smiled as I started to eat again, "Win the case?"

"We did. Greg-o here got the fingerprints to the burglar off of a piece of broken glass at the house in Summerlin and that sealed the deal. He's going away for a while." Warrick took a drink of his Coke. "So tell me about yourself. Where are you from? Got any sisters?"

"Yeah, single sisters?"

I kicked Greg under the table for his remark. "Greg! Really?"

"Damn man, just askin'." He reached under the table to rub his shin, "No need to get violent."

Anna laughed. "I'm from Arkansas and I do have a sister, but she's married so out of luck on that one. I do have a single cousin though." Greg perked up as Anna continued. "But he's gay."

Greg's face fell as she revealed that her single cousin was gay. Now it was my turn to laugh. "You got your hopes up didn't you?"

"A little."

The waitress brought out Greg and Warrick's food and they momentarily lost interest in Anna as they started to eat.

We ate in silence for a bit until Greg's phone rang. He reached in his pocket and pulled it out, "Sanders." He was quiet for a moment as the caller spoke. "Yeah, we just got done in court and it was a slam dunk case. Rick and I started back towards Vegas when we stopped at this little restaurant in Summerlin when we saw Nick's Tundra outside." Greg was quiet again. "Yeah, she's here with him now."

I dropped my fork on my plate, "Now who is interested in Anna?"

"Hold on." Greg handed the phone to Anna. "For you."

Anna looked confused, but took Greg's phone from him. "Hello?" She was quiet while the caller spoke and as they did, a smile broke out across her face, "Oh hey, Catherine. I'm not at all unwell. How are you?"

I just stared at Anna as another one of my co-workers grilled her and I hadn't even actually finished one real date yet. "Yeah, we stopped to get lunch. We're eventually gonna make it to a Wranglers game after while, but so far, so good." She turned to face me as she fell quiet while Catherine apparently talked. "I will." She started to hand the phone back to Greg, but stopped, "Oh Catherine." She got quiet again, "Thank you." She smiled and handed Greg back his phone and started to finish up her meal.

Greg spoke to Catherine a bit before putting his phone back in his pocket. When they were done, I was annoyed, "So who doesn't know about me and Anna yet? Apparently the whole lab does."

Greg looked at Warrick, "Um? Bobby Dawson? No, wait. I'm sure Mandy told him by now. Let me think." His brow furrowed as he turned his thoughts to the people at work, trying to find out someone who wasn't aware of Anna yet. "Oh wait, isn't Henry on vacation?" Warrick nodded and Greg continued. "See, Nick. Henry doesn't know yet." He looked satisfied at his answer as Anna looked at him, puzzled. "Lab techs. We call them lab rats."

"Ah." She finished off her milkshake and set the glass down. "So Nick having a date is breaking news interrupt the Super Bowl in double overtime, game tied on the three yard line fourth and goal type news stories, huh?"

Warrick choked on his Coke.

Now it was my turn to laugh with her, "Serves you right, crashing my date like that." Greg hit Warrick on the back a few times until he quit coughing. "They just worry about me, that's all." I threw a French fry at Greg. "Like you've got any room to talk. Your only girlfriend is that PlayStation controller you named Shannon."

Greg launched the fry back at me and I caught it, "Her name is Stephanie, not Shannon."

"I could see it now on the 11 o'clock news." Warrick held up his fork like a microphone and Greg got the desert menu and rolled it into a tube and held it up like a camera. "Warrick Brown, reporting live with breaking news out of Las Vegas with photojournalist Greg Sanders. Las Vegas Criminalist Nicholas Stokes finally gets a date with LVFD paramedic Anna…" He put the fork down, "What's your last name again?"

"Gigandet."

Warrick looked at her blankly, "It's what?"

She laughed and repeated her name once more for him. Warrick picked up the fork again and held his left hand to his ear like a reporter would do to listen in to feeds from the station. "Back to our breaking news story. Las Vegas Criminalist Nick Stokes gets a date with paramedic Anna…" Warrick paused, trying not to butcher Anna's last name. "Gigandet." He looked at her and she gave him the thumbs up to let him know he pronounced it right. "Right. Gigandet. More to follow after the Super Bowl."

Everyone at the table started laughing at the joke, including me, even though two of my best friends were poking fun at me. Anna seemed to take it all in stride, bantering back and forth with both Greg and Warrick while we ate. We sat and talked for the next couple hours, finishing our meal and just having a good time. Warrick and Greg got up to leave and Anna and I followed. She was standing fairly close to me as we were getting ready to leave. I put my right hand on the small of her back and we walked out to the parking lot. Greg had parked his Tahoe right next to my truck and if I had to guess, he did it on purpose just so I wouldn't have an escape route.

"Well, it was nice meeting both of you." Anna stared at both of them, "Strange, but nice." She took my hand in hers and turned to face them both again, "And remember, if this CSI gig doesn't work out, you've got a career in broadcast journalism."

"Permission to hug the medic, ma'am?" Greg saluted Anna before he turned to me, still saluting.

She laughed again. "Permission granted."

"Smart ass." I had to add in a rider. "Just keep the hands in the northern hemisphere. No groping."

Greg hugged her, followed by Warrick. I was keeping an eye on both of them to make sure they didn't try to cop a feel. They got in Warrick's Tahoe and turned on the highway towards Vegas. "Ready? Or are you still speaking to me?"

Anna just laughed, "Of course I am." She put her hand around my neck and brought me down to her level so she could kiss me, "Why wouldn't I be?" I helped her into my truck and got in on my side. "Now where to?"

I leaned over to kiss her as I started the truck, "I have an idea."

Anna asked me where we were going but I wouldn't tell her. I just told her it'd be a surprise.

"Ooh, I love that song!" She reached over and turned up the volume just a bit so she could hear it. "I don't normally like his music, but this Michael Buble song is one of the best he has."

I listened to the words of the song, " _Life can show no mercy. It can tear your soul apart. It can make you feel like you've gone crazy, but you're not. Things have seem to changed. There's one thing that's still the same. In my heart you have remained, and we can fly, fly, fly away for a minute_."

I listened to the rest of the song as it finished up on the radio. "I don't think I know it."

"It's one of his new ones. The song is called 'Lost' I think. I don't remember if that's the whole song title, but it's one of my favorite songs."

We headed back towards Vegas as the sounds of the song Anna liked so much joined us for the ride. I finally pulled up in front of the Las Vegas Zoo and Aquarium. "Ever been?"

Anna shook her head, "Not once."

Anna and I walked hand in hand to the entrance of the zoo as I bought our tickets. For a late winter's day, it wasn't that bad outside. We walked around the zoo talking and watching the animals in their enclosures. Anna got her iPhone out and started taking pictures of the animals in their enclosures. We made our way back towards one end of the zoo, just taking our time walking slowly and watching the animals play. She stopped next to a waterfall by the sea lion exhibit and turned to face me. I got my phone out of my pocket and snapped a picture of her. An older man was standing beside us watching the sea lions with his grandchildren and when I asked if he'd take a picture of the two of us, he said he'd be glad to. I handed him my phone and Anna's as he took pictures of the two of us next to the waterfall. We said thank you and he handed our phones back to us.

Anna pushed a few buttons on her phone and then showed it to me. The picture the man just took was the new background on it. Seeing what she did, I switched mine too.

We passed a sign right outside the sea lion exhibit announcing a polar bear show at four in the outdoor enclosure. "Wanna go?"

Anna read the sign, "Sounds like fun." She took my hand in hers and we started back towards the exhibit. We managed to make it in time and found two empty seats in the auditorium for the polar bear show. We were sitting on the lower level of the outdoor arena. Anna sat down next to me, looping her arm through mine, being careful to avoid the sling. As we watched, the handlers fed the polar bears and they dove and flipped in the water for treats. The show lasted for about half an hour. As the crowd applauded, two of the three polar bears stood up on the rocks in the enclosure and bowed for the crowd.

We walked around a little bit longer before I realized the sun was starting to set. We made our way back to the front of the zoo and out to my truck. I helped her in once more and as I shut the door, I heard her sigh softly and sink back into the seat.

**Not even sure if Las Vegas has a zoo or an aquarium, but they do now! I love fiction for that reason alone.**


	4. Today

**Chapter 4 – Today**

I picked up the DVD player remote and paused the movie so I could get up to refill my drink and looked over at Anna who was stretched out on the couch while I sat on the floor in front of her, "Is it just me or is the weekend flying by?"

"Time always flies when you're having fun." Anna handed her glass to me, "Mine too."

I took it from her and refilled our drinks in the kitchen. Anna and I went to the hockey game the other night and there was another one the next night and we to that as well. She was very good at explaining what was going on during the game and seeing it in person helped me understand it better. Yesterday and today, we didn't do much at all except hide out in my apartment. She took me by her house and I helped her with her horses and we even rode for a bit before we came back into town. We ordered in earlier tonight and watched movies and just relaxed and got to know one another. As the days went by, I realized more and more how attached I was becoming to her and judging by her reactions, I was hoping Anna felt the same to me as well.

"Mind if I be honest?" I handed Anna her glass.

"I'd hope you'd always be honest." She reached over behind me and put the glass down on the table, "What's wrong?"

I sat down next to Anna and put my glass on the table next to hers, "No, nothing's wrong, but I just realized something about you."

She looked worried, "It's something good I hope."

"Yes, it is." I reached back to reassuringly touch her, "I just realized that it's nice to have someone who understands the highs and the deep lows of this job. Yours is similar to mine and that made it easier to deal because you understand. In the past, girlfriends I've had didn't understand that I had to leave in the middle of a dinner or a movie if my pager went off. More often than not, when that happened, I'd never hear from my date again or she'd be so upset with me and demand that I not answer the pages and spend time with her."

"Oh, that." Anna waved her hand. "Please. It's part of the job and it's just like mine. I have to go no matter what I'm in the middle of. People who need us won't wait until our Doom game is over with or until we've had a shower or finished our dinner or took a nap. We get that call, we go. There have been days both here in Vegas and in San Fran where I got to work in the morning and didn't stop running until we got off two days later." She took one of my hands in hers, "I gave up for the most part. I know you could relate to me in that aspect. Whenever we both get called on the radio or that bell in the fire house goes off for me, no matter what, we had to go."

I hit the play button on the DVD, thinking that for once in my life, a relationship might actually work for me.

Tuesday was the day I was supposed to go back to work, but I called in one more time so I could spend the time with Anna. She wound up swapping a shift with a co-worker so she could work with Bryan who needed an extra day off for personal reasons, so rather than her go in on Tuesday, she went in on Wednesday. My shoulder was still aching, so technically it wasn't a lie when I said I was hurting too much to work. When Wednesday came, I knew I had to go back to work.

Anna was at work so I knew there was a small chance I'd be able to see her if we got any calls together. She worked in the districts I was assigned to so even before we got to know each other, I noticed her quite often at scenes. It just took me getting injured before I had a reason to talk to her. Knowing what I know now, I should have tripped over a flower pot months ago. Hindsight is always 20/20 and I was finding that out now.

We spoke a few times during the day on the phone and by text messages. According to what conversations we did have, she was busy bouncing between calls for the better half of the day. I knew I wasn't going to go in until eleven that night, so I took a nap after the last time I spoke to Anna on the phone.

My alarm went off and I spent a little more time than necessary in bed but I woke up in time to shower and head into work. Before I left my apartment, I sent Anna a text letting her know I was on my way in and to call me when she got a chance. She wrote back a little bit later and said she was finishing up on a run but would when she got a chance.

Pulling into the parking lot at the crime lab, I grabbed my phone and walked inside somewhat ready for shift to start. After being off for almost a week, it did feel good to get back to being productive, even if it meant not seeing Anna near as much.

"And look who it is. Mr. Nick "I got a date with Anna so I'm too good for everyone else" Stokes! We all counted you lost." Warrick stood up and started to applaud, "Welcome back. Feeling better?"

"Yeah, shoulder is still a bit sore, but I figured I'd rejoin the human race today." I pulled a bottle of water out of the fridge in the room and sat next to Warrick as we waited on our shift to start. One by one, the rest of the team came in.

"Alright everyone. Grissom's out sick, so I'm handing out assignments." Catherine put her reading glasses on and began to flip through assignment slips. She slid the paper to Sara, "Sara, you and Greg take this one. 419 at one of those no tell motels in the alphabet neighborhood." Turning her attention to Warrick, she slid a second assignment slip across the table, "Warrick, you're flying solo on this one. Armed robbery at the Gas 'N Go on Mills Pond Road. If you get done there early, help Sara and Greg out."

"What about me?" If it was slow, I might be able to make the pain in my shoulder more than it actually was and I could go home.

"Nicky, you and I are on a wreck out off Boulder Canyon Highway. Local saw it, called it in. Uniform made the scene and come to find out, the driver in the car was wanted for a string of armed robberies in Reno as well as here. Just so happened the two Reno detectives were already in Vegas talking to the guy's girlfriend, so they're on their way now and will probably beat us to the scene. So grab your gear and let's take off."

"Oh goodie." I screwed the top back on my water bottle. "Always did love working with out of towners." I made a stop by my locker and grabbed my jacket and gloves and met Catherine outside. We got in her Tahoe and made our way out to where the wreck was.

"So how are things with Anna?"

I groaned, not really wanting to get into this now, "Fine. Just fine. She's back at work tonight."

"Don't you have something you want to tell me?"

I looked blankly at Catherine, trying to figure out what she meant. After racking my brain, I came up empty, "Um, your hair looks good tonight?"

"Well thank you, but that's not what I meant." When I still didn't respond, she continued, "Men. You could start with this, 'Thank you Catherine for dialing Anna's phone number for me last week. I was too much of a chicken to do it myself and without you pushing me, I probably would be home right now playing PlayStation with Greg and Stacey rather than having a relationship with a living, breathing human being' but a simple 'thank you' or just about anything works, really."

"Her name is Stephanie, not Stacey, but thank you for making the call for me."

She looked at me as we came to a stop at a stop sign, "Do you know how incredibly sad it is that you know what Greg's special PlayStation controller is called? Sounds like you got a girlfriend just in time before you were too lost to be found."

I was insulted, 'Hey…"

Catherine drove through the intersection and parked her truck on the shoulder of the road. She got out and got her field kit out of the back of the truck as she threw a glance my direction and stifled a laugh, "Thank goodness you tripped that day and I managed to flag Anna down. You were almost too far gone."

I kept my mouth shut as we approached the yellow crime scene tape and the flashing blue and red lights of the emergency cars in front of us. Two LVPD cars were pulled over to one side of the road as well as an ambulance and the coroner's van up ahead. As we passed the ambulance, I couldn't help but smile when I saw Anna's unit number on the side of the door, knowing she was here somewhere.

"Hold it." Catherine started towards the first car crash but the second one caught her eye. "The call we got was about a red Mustang that was crashed into a tree." She and I both looked on the right side of the road and saw the skid marks and the hole in the guardrail where the car went over the embankment and we were both confused as to why there was a second car crash just up the road, "What's with the van? Another victim?"

I looked over to where she was looking and on the left side of the road where a blue minivan was wrecked next to a LVPD car with the passenger side crushed in, "Double work? Thought there was only one wreck?" I turned to face the two LVPD officers behind us, "What gives?"

"I can answer that." I turned to face a strange man approaching us. "Detective Andrew McGill, Reno PD. This is my partner, Detective Joseph Petty." He held his hand out to us. Catherine shook his hand first, then Joseph's and I followed suit.

"I'm Catherine Willows and this is Nick Stokes. We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

"Nice to meet you both." Andrew exhaled sharply, clearly faking his last statement to us.

I listened to him drone on about how he was here for something else and this fell into his lap. While he talked, I realized there was a reason I hated out of town cops. They always thought they were better than LVPD and this was no exception as evident by his attitude, "So explain what's going on."

"I was getting to that." Andrew shot me a look, "The red Mustang over there, that's the victim's car. James MacElroy's the RO and he's the one we're looking for, and well, we found him." With the three of us following, he started towards the car. "He's dead, or so I've been told. Paramedics pronounced him about twenty minutes ago. Right about the time you two got here, another car came skidding to a stop and took out one of the LVPD cars over there. Rubbernecking I guess. The guy medic and the chick medic were over there treating him until the coroner finished up with our vic. The chick medic signed off on the dead guy and went to help her partner treating that man now after she finished screwing up my crime scene."

"Excuse me, but it's our crime scene and how did she screw it up?" I was beginning to get annoyed at how he was talking about Anna, among other things.

"What's your name again, son?"

I rolled my eyes. "Nick Stokes."

"Whatever. Nick, listen. See these footprints and smudges?"

He was trying to get me to see a knee print in the side of the car. The victim had evidently bled out and either Bryan or Anna had leaned in the car to take the guy's pulse. Nothing new there. "Yeah, I see it. So what?"

"That's what I mean. Which prints are what? What if this is the perp's impressions or what if this is just that idiot medic's prints? Don't they know to wait? We never have this problem in Reno. It could have been the killer leaning in to choke the guy to death"

"Then if the guy got choked to death, it'll show up in autopsy. My guess was he swerved off the road and crashed into the tree and died." I pushed past Andrew and took my position back beside Catherine, "I seriously doubt if anyone reached through and strangled him."

I looked at Catherine and shook my head as we watched as Andrew scrutinized the blood smears on the side of the Mustang. While he was lost in thought, Joseph made his way towards Catherine and me, "He gets this way from time to time. Just do as I do and ignore him. He's apparently PMSing right now."

Catherine let out a laugh, but covered it up with a cough as I cleared my throat to keep from laughing hard. "Look, Andrew. The medics are right over there. We can get exemplar boot prints and ALS their pants to check for blood and if there is blood, we can get samples. It's nothing new and it'll exclude them from the ones we have here. It's not the end of the world. Saving a life trumps evidence every time. They have to do what they need to do to save lives."

"But he's dead. Not much we can do for him. They should have been able to see that from twenty feet away and stayed the hell out of the scene." He turned around and motioned to a bag on the trunk of the car, "Look! This defibrillator bag right here is sitting smack in a pool of blood on the back and now the actions of one mindless medic ruined this evidence." He picked the bag off the trunk and tossed it on the ground away from the car. "Someone needs to speak to the sheriff about training these idiots better."

I started to say something to defend Anna but Catherine stopped me. "Let me, Nick." I motioned for her to let him have it. "Our medics and our fire fighters are trained to do their jobs in the most horrendous of conditions. They get out here in the middle of fire fights, street fights, fist fights and God only knows what other types of fights and in the middle of storms that are so dangerous, it is mind blowing and they do their job. They do their job around psychotics, murderers, druggies, fighting spouses, arrogant out of town cops and arguing drunks and they help us as much as they can. I've been doing this job a while and I've never lost a case because some medic or some fireman put his foot in the middle of a pool of blood. Judges and juries know that lifesaving comes first and so help me God, I pray I never have to use your services in Reno. You'd let me bleed out and die while you stood there in your knock off Gucci shoes and collected evidence. If you think you can do this job better than they can, fine, but if you can't, just shut the hell up and get out of my way."

"Testy, testy." Andrew just shook his head and pulled a pair of gloves out of his field kit. "I mean look at this mess. Foot prints all through the blood. The victim was moved out of the car and now what? Evidence has been contaminated and we're not going to get anything usable." He kicked the side of the wrecked car. "Really? Did they not teach these people how to preserve a crime scene? Could they have been any more reckless?"

"Probably."

I knew I said that loud enough to get his attention and I did. Once again, I got a death stare, "How are we supposed to figure out who did what and what blood stains and smears are from the wreck and what smears are from the paramedics who couldn't pour piss out of a boot with a hole in the toe and instructions written on the heel? Like it'd do any good. They probably can't read anyway. If they could, they would have finished med school and gone on to become a doctor." He started to walk off but turned around, "And would someone bring some damn sodium lights over here. I can't see what the hell I'm doing."

"Good." I put the strap of my camera across my shoulder and headed in the opposite way from him, "Maybe you'll fall off a cliff!"

During Andrew's rant, I noticed Anna and Bryan had walked up to the scene and were leaning against Catherine's Tahoe, watching him rant on and on about their jobs. I silently said a prayer that Anna wouldn't let her temper get the better of her or that Bryan wouldn't just shove this guy over the edge, even though that probably wouldn't be a bad idea and if I had to bet, his partner would help us push.

Anna looked at me before she saw Joseph watching Andrew continue his rant about her job. He apparently recognized her and tried to get his partner to shut up, but he didn't listen. She smiled at Joseph who was being more reserved than his blabbermouth partner before turning her attention to me, "Hey Nick."

"I take it you heard all that, huh?"

"Yeah, we both did. Well most of it, really. We got the driver of the van loaded and the officers are talking to the rubbernecker. Heard Catherine going off on someone and wanted to catch the fireworks. Looks like I missed it."

"Yeah, that robbery detective, Mr. Personality, doesn't like you much right now."

"I just love those pretty boys from robbery." She eyed him while he was looking at the back of the crumpled Mustang. "He's the one from Reno, right? The one who acts like he's God?"

"Yeah, that's him. I don't think his partner's that bad. He seems alright. The tall one though, wow. Bet he toilet trained his kids at gunpoint."

Bryan did his best to hide a smile as Andrew turned around when he heard us talking. "So you're the medics who screwed up my crime scene? Come back to stomp through blood puddles? Play Slip and Slide down the hood of the car?"

Anna had turned her attention to the scene report she was holding. She had brought her clipboard with her and was busy writing her narrative for the incident report for the police department when she answered his question, not even bothering to look up at him as she spoke. "So, you're the Reno investigator with a giant California redwood thrust up his ass?" With an audible gasp from someone behind us, he made no response. When he said nothing, she looked up from her report and smiled at him. I lost it. I was turning blue from not breathing to keep from laughing, but something that sounded like a snort mixed with a laugh escaped.

I stared at her as she approached Andrew. Anna was only an inch over five feet tall on a good day and Andrew towered over her by nearly a foot and some inches. I couldn't believe she'd make a come back like that even though the guy did deserve it. Catherine let out a small laugh and again covered it with a cough, "Anna."

She acknowledged Catherine's presence before she turned her full attention back to Andrew, "Can't speak? Well, let me start. Name's Anna Gigandet. Oh, and just so you spell my name correctly for your report, I'll spell it out for you. Get your pen ready. I'll wait." Anna handed her clipboard to Bryan and crossed her arms across her chest as the puzzled detective pulled a pen out of his pocket. "A-N-N-A is how you spell my first name."

I watched as Andrew flipped to a clean page in his notebook and started writing, all the while glaring at Anna, "Did I get it right?"

He showed her his notebook and she smiled, "I see you got that part down. Very nice. If I had any cookies, I'd give you one. Now for my last name and I'll make sure I go really slowly so you pretty boys from robbery can keep up. G-I-G-A-N-D-E-T."

I couldn't help myself as another laugh escaped and before long, I was turning red from trying not to laugh again. Catherine put her field kit down and walked around the side of the Tahoe with Bryan so they could laugh where nobody could see them. Andrew just stared at Anna and even from where I was standing, I could tell by the expression on his face that he couldn't believe she just stood up to him like that. Bryan and Catherine appeared a moment later having composed themselves from Anna's smart remark.

"So when you're finished telling everyone how piss poor I do my job, you mind moving so I can get my equipment and my non trained self out of your way, Your Highness?" She put her right arm across her stomach and bowed, just as if she was bowing for a king. I had to turn around to keep from laughing yet once again. Anna was killing me right now and I needed to remain professional.

She saw me struggling to keep my composure and straightened up, "I mean, after all, we're just a bunch of backwoods inbred paramedics who can't read and make you work harder to figure out what's what, right? Want to take me out behind the woodshed and shoot me now?"

"Look you smart ass medic know it all, you just made my job ten times harder. How about you move around me?"

Anna scoffed. "My heart bleeds peanut butter." I could tell that she was obviously unimpressed with this guy or his attitude.

Bryan looked at Anna and shook his head, "Truculence." He couldn't handle it anymore and busied himself with the report she had given him.

"Excuse me?" Andrew put his pen away as he challenged Bryan to repeat what he said.

After Bryan said nothing, Anna didn't back off. "It means I don't care and you say I'm a dumbass." I could tell she wanted to say something else, but she kept her cool. "Look, Einstein. Lemme get my crayons and draw you a picture on the back of this run report form my partner is filling out. Since I'm pretty sure you won't be able to follow my narrative, I'll draw you a picture. I promise you that the picture will have lots of colors and balloons and rainbows and a pretty pony jumping through a sky of satin ribbons so you'll understand what I'm trying to tell you."

"That's…"

Interrupting him, Anna started to walk closer and as she did, he took a step back. I folded my arms across my chest and watched her go after him, "You've got your right foot through the loop of the AED bag handle that you so lovingly threw to the ground. If I pull on that, I'm gonna pull you down with it. Now granted at this point in time, I'm failing to see how that could be a bad thing but I'm sure upon reflection, something would come to me. I know that'd make me laugh and seeing as how I've had to pee now for the past two hours, I'd probably wet myself, but you know what? After having to put up with your attitude since you've been here, it'd so be worth it." She stepped forward again. "Now move or prepare to take a swan dive off that ridge over there."

He looked down at his foot and realizing his foot was inside the AED bag strap, he looked at her and just walked off, defeated. Anna looked over her shoulder as she smiled, "Jackass." Satisfied now, she picked up the bag and put the strap over her shoulder. "I'll let you get to your investigating. Call me later?"

"Of course." I surveyed the scene again, "Mr. Personality and his partner and Catherine and I are going to go wrap this up and head back in. I'll call you when we're done. If you get another call out in this area tonight, rest assured, it'll be me after I beat the attitude out of him."

"I'll help too, Nicky." Catherine had her hand up like she was in school.

Joseph held up his hand as well. "Can I help? He's got it coming from me for the past five years of working with him."

After Anna and Bryan left, the four of us stayed at the scene for the next few hours, working in silence. Since she had put Andrew in his place, he didn't have too much to say, but his partner was quite pleasant to be around and was chatting with me about life in Reno while he was helping me bag glass fragments from the Mustang. "I've been working with him now going on five years and some days, he's too much for me to handle."

"Well that's a sunny view of the situation." I signed a plastic evidence bag he handed me and tossed it into the collection bin.

He took another bag I was holding from me and sealed it up with evidence tape and handed it back to me. Since we were in Las Vegas, I had to sign everything even though he collected it. I signed the tape and dropped it in the collection bin on top of the other bags. "Heck, I'd buy her dinner and marry her for doing that for me. Think she'd go out with me?"

"Uh, I'll relay the message but I'm kind of certain she'd have to pass, but if you want me to tell her thanks, I'll relay the message when I see her later on after she gets off work."

Joseph looked up realizing what I said, "Oh man, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that…Oh dude. I'm sorry."

"No biggie. We just started dating."

We finished bagging the glass from the car as well as some paint chips and the side view mirror. As the tow truck loaded up the crumpled Mustang, Joseph helped me carry the evidence to Catherine's Tahoe. I gave him directions to the crime lab and he said he'd bring Andrew there with him later on after they finished interviewing the driver's girlfriend in town.

Catherine and I drove back to the crime lab and dumped the evidence at the clerk's desk so she could divide it up between the departments. "Lunch? I'm buying."

"Far be it for me to turn down free food." We got back in the Tahoe and took off to one of the all night pancake places down the road from the lab.

We sat down and ordered and started talking about the case as the waitress brought our order to us. About halfway through our meal, my phone rang. Figuring it was Hodges from the lab to tell me something about the case, I didn't even pay attention to the caller ID as I flipped it open. "Whatcha got for me Hodges?"

"Who?"

"Oh, crap. Sorry, Anna. I figured it was one of the lab rats calling. Cath and I are at the pancake place over by the station. We're eating while they're getting a jump start on the evidence."

"I know."

"We just…." It finally dawned on me what she had said, "Wait, how did you know we were here?"

"Turn around."

I turned around in my chair and saw Anna and Bryan at the doorway. She waved at me with her free hand as her other hand held her cell phone to her ear. "Hey, dear."

"Come eat with us." Catherine waved over at Anna and Bryan. "Come on! Nick, scoot over so Anna can sit next to you." I snapped the phone shut as she and Bryan made their way to our table. Anna took the empty seat next to me as Bryan pulled up a chair and sat at the end of the table. "Nice to see you again, Anna." Catherine turned to Bryan. "Don't think we've ever been formally introduced. Catherine Willows, Crime Lab."

"Bryan Brooks, Paramedic LVFD and Anna's keeper."

She snorted, "Ha. Whatever. It's more like I'm your handler. I should get hazard pay most nights for having to keep you on a leash like I do."

Bryan started to say something, but the waitress came back and Anna and Bryan ordered and their food was brought out fairly quickly. It was nearing close to three in the morning and we were one of about a dozen people in the restaurant at the time.

Catherine took a drink of her coffee and then put the cup down before she started in, "Oh, Nick tell you that investigator from Reno thinks you're hot?"

Bryan straightened up, "Well, thank you. I don't think he's my type though. Plus I think my wife would have something to say about that." His voice was about three octaves higher than normal and he spoke with a lisp, "But I get that all the time."

"You do that voice all too well. I'm scared. Really scared now." Anna looked slightly annoyed, but softened her expression when she faced me, "See why I had to apologize for him the other night?"

I shot Catherine a look, "No, I didn't tell Anna yet about what he said but thanks, Cath. Always a pal."

"Any time, Nick." She smiled at me and finished up her pancakes, "Not bad looking actually. Looks too young for me, but not for you, Anna. He did ask Nick about you though."

Anna groaned, "Oh God, I'd rather hang myself. I'd wind up in prison after beating him to death or something."

"No, no, not that one, the nice one. The quiet one."

"Ah." She thought a moment, "If another certain crime scene investigator didn't have my eye, maybe, but…" She trailed off as she nudged me in the ribs. "Too bad for him I guess. Looks like I'm already spoken for."

I straightened up at the realization of what Anna had said. It made me feel good to know she felt the same way about me as I did her.

After half an hour passed of the four of us enjoying our breakfast, Catherine checked her watch and stood up, "We better get back Nick. They've probably got some results for us and Investigator Personality and his side kick will be there soon."

"Be right there."

Catherine and Bryan walked ahead leaving Anna and me alone. "You really let that guy have it. Didn't know you had it in you."

"Yeah, sorry about that." Anna shrugged her shoulders, "I know I'm not always an investigator's best friend when it comes to me having to trash evidence to save someone's life, but it's not like I put on rain boots and went stomping through blood pools just to piss y'all off. My first duty is to the victims who need me and treat them to the best of my abilities."

I took her hand in mine, "I know that. I'm not mad. Catherine's not mad. We've been doing this job enough to know that y'all don't intentionally stomp through blood puddles or shout out 'Bonsai!' right before you drive through muddy tire impressions or something. It's part of your job and we know that. Detective Personality was just one of a kind."

"Nick, ride back with Anna. I'm gonna take Bryan back to the lab. Meet us there and we can swap partners." Not even giving me a chance to argue, Catherine got into her Tahoe with Bryan already in the passenger's side.

"She's going out of her way to make sure we have time together, isn't she?" Anna wrapped her arms around my midsection and put her head on my chest.

Returning the hug, I held her tightly as we stood outside in the cool night air. "She likes you and she knows I like you too. This job is hard enough as it is on me, but when you try to add in a relationship to the mix, especially with someone who doesn't get what it is that it takes for us to do this job, it's hard. I know you understand as your job is like mine. You know calls won't wait until you're done with dinner and it's the same with me. If my pager goes off, I have to go no matter what. Cath just knows that you understand how it is we live because you're in a similar situation." I kissed her as she brought her face up to look at me. "And I'm eternally grateful for her help. I'll take any time I can get with you."

"Me too." Anna pulled away from me slightly and stood up on her tip toes to kiss me. "Better get you back to the lab and get Bryan back before Catherine wrecks her truck to get away from him." She took my hand and led me to the ambulance in the parking lot of the Pancake Hut. "Onwards we go, I guess." I opened the door for her and she got in and I got in on the other side. "Wanna turn the sirens on?"

"Uh no. That'll make our trip faster and right now, slow is better." I put on my seatbelt as Anna backed the ambulance out of the parking lot and turned onto the road in the direction of the lab. "I do have sort of a dumb question for you."

"What's that?"

"I don't know when your birthday it is."

We came to a stop at an intersection and Anna looked over at me to answer the question as she waited on the light to change, "This is the end of February, so it's about two and a half months away in mid May."

"No way. Really?"

"Yep. May 16th is the day I get to put on a festive hat and celebrate the fact the earth made it around the sun yet once again. Why?"

"Mine's May 17th. Day after yours. Nice coincidence." A sign maybe? I didn't know but it didn't stop my mind from wandering while Anna answered radio traffic directed at her on our way back.

We made it to the parking lot and she and I both got out. I pulled her into a hug again and was about to let her out when I heard someone shout my name from behind me. As I turned around, I noticed Warrick walking towards us again with Greg hot on his heels, "Oh God. Why?" I looked up at the night sky. "Did I do something in a past life to have to put up with abuse like this?" I shook my head and looked down at Anna as she rested her head on my chest again.

"Miss Anna with the incredibly hard to remember last name. Pleasure to see you again."

Anna turned her head to the side, but didn't break my hug so I didn't move my arms, "And Mr. Warrick and his cameraman Mr. Greg. Likewise. Just returning Nick to you so I can pick up my partner and head back to try to catch some sleep in between calls."

Greg motioned over his shoulder, "He's in there. Catherine took him inside to show him around. Has Nick given you the tour yet?"

Anna shook her head, "Nope. This is the first time I've been here."

Greg pulled Anna's hand off my back and yanked her away from me. "I get to give you the special tour now since Nicky hasn't." He pulled on her hand and she stumbled stepping up on the curb of the sidewalk and I watched as Greg practically dragged her up the sidewalk that ended at the front door. He shoved the glass doors opened and stopped at the receptionist's desk long enough to hand Anna a visitor's badge. "Clip this on your shirt."

He took her hand again after she clipped the badge to her work shirt and led her towards the back of the building, giving her the tour as they walked. "This is the DNA lab. Wendy works here, but she's not here right now and down this way is the trace lab and that's Hodges." We walked by an empty room and came on the ballistics lab. "This is Bobby Dawson's kingdom. He shoots stuff and over here we have Mandy in the fingerprint analysis room."

"And you must be the lovely Anna."

I looked around Greg and Anna and saw Grissom. I figured I better make the introductions before Greg said something to embarrass me even further. "Anna this is my supervisor, Gil Grissom. Gris, this is Anna Gigandet. Man, I thought you were home sick?"

"I was. Got called in. Busy night. If you'll excuse me, I'm heading downstairs for autopsy. Doc Robbins is about to start." Anna and Grissom exchanged pleasantries and Gil took off downstairs to the morgue to check on a body.

Greg left Anna and me alone as we made our way to the back where Catherine was. She was leaned over an illuminated table showing Bryan some sort of drawing from another case. "I need to get him so we can go before we get another case."

"I know." I kissed her again as she knocked on the glass to get Bryan's attention. Catherine waved as Bryan came out and said he'd meet her outside. I took Anna's hand in mine and we made our way back through the maze of hallways and back up to the reception area. We made the last turn in the hallway that separated the lab from the reception area and ran into Detective Personality and his sidekick. I groaned again and knew that it was about to get ugly.

"And if it isn't Paramedic Smart Ass once again. God, how I missed you."

Anna looked annoyed, "I bet working with you for an extended period of time is enough to make Gandhi spin kick a hole through a brick wall." I heard Joseph suppress a laugh as his partner just huffed off, defeated by my very own smart ass paramedic girlfriend.

After telling her I'd call her after I got off work in a little bit, I let her other hand go and told her to have a good night before I watched the ambulance pull out of the parking lot as I headed back inside to process the evidence we collected earlier.

**To quote a line from the theme song of MST3K: "If you're wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts, just repeat to yourself "It's just a show, I should really just relax." So if you're thinking to yourself "Well, that's not how it happened on the show!," take the advice of MST3K wisdom and "really just relax!"**


	5. Mad World

**A/N: It's now mid April or about four weeks later after the last chapter.**

**Chapter 5 – Mad World**

"I'll be over as soon as court is over with. Shouldn't take that long. Just let yourself in and I'll be there as soon as I get done here. Want anything special for lunch or anything?" I had given Anna a key to my apartment last week when she gave me one to her house. We spent time at each place, depending on work schedules. On the nights Anna had to work the next day, we usually stayed at my apartment because it was closer and she could be with me longer. Most other nights, we were at her house.

"I was thinking I'd make spaghetti? You've got the noodles already in your house and I can make the sauce after I stop by the store and get what I need. I'm not that hungry though, but it sounds good to me. Still feel kinda bad, but I'm okay otherwise. Just hurry home?"

"Still not feeling well from whatever it is you have?"

Anna sighed, "Sort of. I don't know if that's what it is or not. Probably just tired and with me going back to work tomorrow, I know it won't get any better the next couple days."

"I know that one all too well." I thought a minute, "Oh, I was about to forget, but someone's got a birthday coming up. Any idea what you want?" I switched the phone to my other ear as I waited on her response.

"I have a pretty good idea. Let's see, he's about 6'2 with brown hair and speaks with a Texas drawl when he gets agitated and his birthday is the day after mine and someone hasn't told me what he wanted, either."

I laughed. "You've already got me and my accent is not that bad. Not any worse than yours." I brought my arm up to check what time it was, "Hon, what time is it? My watch stopped."

"Again? I know what I'm getting you for your birthday then. Hold on, let me check." Anna apparently brought the phone away from her ear and checked it. "It's 9:45. If your court case is at ten, you better split."

"Crap, thanks for reminding me. I'll see you in a bit."

Anna and I said our goodbyes as I muted the ringer on my phone and stuck it in my pocket. I had to be in court today for a burglary Warrick and I worked earlier in the month. "How's Miss Anna doing there, Nick?"

I shoved the door open to the courtroom. "Fine. She's at my place waiting on me to get done here. Not feeling too well actually, but other than that, she's fine." We took our seats near the front of the courtroom. "This better not take all day long. I've got places to go."

Warrick nudged me, "Yeah, like home to a certain paramedic waiting?"

The court was called to order so I didn't get a chance to respond. Warrick testified first, and then I followed after him. We were excused almost two hours later. I hurried to get home so I could change and see Anna.

Parking my truck in front of my building, I started up the walk to the door. I was about to open it when I happened to glance in the window of my apartment that faced the parking lot. Anna was lost in whatever song she was listening to and wasn't paying any attention. She had her back to the window, but was in the kitchen cooking. I watched from outside as she kept dancing in my kitchen, oblivious to the fact I was watching her. Not wanting to interrupt my dance show, I quietly opened the door and shut it, still watching her dance it out in my kitchen. I wanted to say something, but I was having too much fun watching. Even feeling as bad as she did, she could still put on quite a show. She had changed out of what she had on last night when I left her asleep at my apartment and into a pair of yoga pants and a fitted tee and was barefoot. I did shut the blinds at the window behind me to keep my neighbors from getting a view as she continued to dance and sing along to the song on the radio.

Turning her attention back to the stove and whatever it was she was cooking, she started singing along to a song I haven't heard in years. " _Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose. You can plant any one of those. Keep planting to find out which one grows. It's a secret no one knows. It's a secret no one knows. Oh, no one knows..."_ She faded off as she went back to stirring whatever it was she was cooking.

I couldn't help myself. I had to interrupt her star performance. "You've got a really good voice. I haven't heard you sing like that. I bet if you ask the lady next door, she'll know." I startled Anna as she jumped and turned around to face me. "She's got all sorts of crap planted back there in the planters."

"God, you scared me." She threw a dish towel at me which I easily caught. "But thank you for the comment about my singing. How was court?"

"Sorry about that, but I was enjoying the show." I tossed the dish towel on the counter and stood behind her, smelling her vanilla lotion she wore as well as the spaghetti sauce she was stirring, "You smell good as always as does the sauce. Court was fine. Warrick and I testified to what we saw and here I am." Anna had her hair pulled back in a pony tail, giving me access to the back part of her neck. I kissed her neck which caused goose bumps to appear on her skin. "Slam dunk, but you know how defense attorneys are. They'll argue anything to get their client off." I got a spoon out of the drawer and dipped it in the sauce to get a taste, "Good as always."

Anna left the sauce in the pot and made her way to the couch. "Your TV sucks by the way." She flipped through the few channels I got using the antenna. "We've got to talk about getting you some decent channels." Giving up, she switched the input over to the DVD player and got a movie off the shelf behind the TV and put it in.

"I know. The old company I had kept raising their rates and I wasn't home enough to justify the expense and with me living here, I can't get a satellite dish. Management of the company won't let us. Guess I could check into it again now that I have someone to watch it with." I sat in front of her and she adjusted herself to where she was sitting on her knees and could reach me to put her arms around my shoulders. "You do feel a bit warm to me. Miss me?"

"I still kinda feel bad but of course I missed you. Always do when you're not here." Anna got up. "Pause the movie so I can dump the sauce and the spaghetti will be ready." She kissed me on the cheek as she went back in the kitchen.

After finishing preparing the food, Anna brought out two plates of spaghetti. "Are you sure that's enough?" Anna barely had any food on her plate.

"Yeah, I'm just not that hungry today. But eat up."

I hit the play button on the remote and the movie started again as she and I ate while we watched Steel Magnolias again for about the 200th time since I had known her. I learned early on in our relationship that this was one of her favorite movies. We finished up lunch and I took our plates back in the kitchen to rinse off and clean up as I left her in the living room, stretched out on the couch as the movie played on in the background.

When I got back in the room after putting the leftovers in the fridge, I saw Anna had fallen asleep on the couch. I picked her up and took her back to my bedroom to sleep. She stirred slightly when I picked her up. "Just taking you back to the bedroom. More comfortable. Go back to sleep." She yawned and closed her eyes as I put her in the bed.

I changed out of the clothes I had on and into a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt so I could finish cleaning up the kitchen and the rest of my apartment while Anna was sleeping. After I got done, I took a shower and got in bed next to a still sleeping Anna. While I was gone, Anna had pulled the covers up over her head as she slept. Never understanding why she did that, I got up again and got the movie out of the DVD player in the front room and turned the TV on in my room and finished most of the movie while she slept.

She woke up a little bit later. Stretching as she woke up, she rolled over and put her arm across my stomach. "How long have I been asleep?"

I checked the clock on the table on her side of the bed. "A few hours. The movie is about over. Shelby's in the hospital." Anna moved her pillow closer to me and we watched the ending of the movie. Towards the end, she started to tear up. "You've seen this movie how many times and you still cry?"

"Shut up. I'm a woman. I'm supposed to get emotional at movies like this." She sat up in bed and stretched again. "Up for a lesson at the driving range? I need to practice. The fire department charity golf scramble is coming up and Bryan and I are on a team with our shift captain and his wife. Need the practice so I don't embarrass myself. "

"You don't need to practice much. You're a good golfer." I had seen her hit a few times. She got up and got dressed and she took me to the driving range in town. Anna played golf sometimes after Bryan got her playing it with him and I tried to learn the game, but I wasn't as good as she was. I watched as one by one, she hit the golf balls hard enough to send them flying through the sky and landing well beyond the 100 and 150 yard markers in the lot. "I think you'll do fine at the scramble next week. I don't think you have anything to worry about."

She handed me her driver. "I hope not. I wind up embarrassing myself and captain's gonna put me on another station or give me a bad shift." Stepping out of the sun and back behind me, she put her sunglasses on her head as I attempted to hit the ball. Mine didn't go quite as far as Anna's, but I was getting better.

My last ball came out of the dispenser. I teed up and hit it. The ball hit off the side of the club and instead of going straight ahead on the driving range, the little white ball made a right curve and hit a flower pot on the terrace of the clubhouse next to where we were. I turned around to face Anna and she was already turning red from laughing. "And another one bites the dust…" I shook my head and turned around to survey the damage again. I turned around to look at her and she was doubled over with tears running out of her eyes. "You know, I'm beginning to think you find this humorous."

She straightened up and tried to stop laughing. "Not really. I'd never laugh at you. I'm merely laughing with you." Anna looked over my shoulder at the shattered remains of the flower pot and then back at me and lost it again as she started laughing.

"It takes talent to do something like that. Sure, sure you can get the balls to go out past the 200 yard mark, but only I could smack and break a flower pot with a golf ball." I handed the driver back to her. "Better take this before I go breaking a window next."

She took the driver from me as she tried to quit laughing. "Now that's talent right there. Rest assured, if there's ever a golf scramble that involves demolishing flower pots with golf balls, you're my man. We'd win. Hands down."

Anna and I started back to the parking lot towards my truck as the sun started to set as the afternoon was drawing to a close. "I thought I already was?"

"Of course you are." She pulled me down to her level so she could kiss me. "I hope you know that." She kissed me again as my pager went off. Not breaking the kiss, Anna groaned. She looked down at my belt. "I hate that thing sometimes."

"Yeah, tell me about it." I pulled it off my belt and checked the pager's message. " _Arson investigation 1411 Red Grove Road. DB inside. Meet Warrick there – swing is short handed. Sorry, Anna. - Grissom."_ I handed the pager to her so she could read her message from my supervisor. "Well, guess I need to take you back home then, huh?"

Anna sighed as I opened the door, "Oh goodie, an arson case after golf. Oh well. Such is life." She got in and I went around to the driver's side. "So do I need to call dispatch and tell them you're gonna be late because of the 419 at the golf range?" She held out her cell phone, poised to dial the number.

"Ha ha, Anna. Very funny. You gotta get me one of those things."

She looked at her BlackBerry and silenced it when one of the alerts went off. "Bryan sent me a text." She typed out a response before looking up at me. "A Berry like mine? Now that'll be different. If you want one, I can add you to my plan and get one. I get a discount from being with the fire department. Free handsets since we're public servants and all and most of our handsets kind of die when they get dropped or drowned at a fire call."

"I can imagine." I dropped Anna off at my house. She said she was headed home to check on her critters and then was probably going to stay at my apartment tonight since she was so tired and didn't want to be alone. I changed clothes and grabbed the keys to my truck once again and after kissing her goodbye, headed into work.

I left my truck at the apartment and got in my Tahoe which was parked between my truck and Anna's Xterra and headed towards the address I was given. The house was charred on one end of it. Warrick met me outside. "Sorry about this. Ecklie called Grissom and asked for us since they're short handed."

"Eh, no matter. Anna and I just finished up at the golf range. She was heading to her house checking on her horses and then said she'd be back to my apartment later. She didn't feel like going home to an empty home." We started towards the front door, or what was left of the front door, of the house. "Nice. Evidence eradication crew beat us here already I see." The ceiling was blackened with soot and was dripping wet from the water used to put out the fire. "Up for a challenge? Arson cases always are."

"Ah yes, the firemen. Always here to make our jobs just a little bit harder."

The arson case took up the rest of the night. The coroner came by and got the crispy critter out of the house and took him back to the lab for the autopsy just as Warrick and I finished up in the house. As David and his assistant were loading the body in the van, I watched them before I threw all the evidence Warrick and I had collected in the back of my Tahoe. After shutting the door, I realized I hadn't heard from Anna all night and started to check my pockets for my phone. Not finding it in my pockets, I hoped I had left it in my truck. I got my keys out and got ready to leave when I saw it was on the seat next to me. Flipping it open, I saw I had a text message _. "Up now. Call me if you can. – A."_ I checked the time stamp on the message. It was about twenty minutes ago.

I dialed her number as I left the scene. She answered quickly. "Hey dear. Did I interrupt?"

"Not at all. Just got done with the scene. Coroner came by to pick up the deceased and just now headed back to the lab. Was hoping to get a chance to stop and grab lunch, but that's probably not going to happen." I switched the phone to my other ear so I could turn the volume down on the radio in the truck.

"What do you want? I can bring you something?"

I glanced at the clock on the radio. "Anna, it's nearing two in the morning. I don't want to make you get out this late. I'll be fine. I'll just grab a Twinkie or something from the vending machine. I'll be fine."

"I'm already up and I'm hungry myself. I already polished off the left over spaghetti from earlier. My appetite seems to be coming back. What do you want? I've already got my clothes back on."

"You're spoiling me, you know that, right?"

"Yep. I know. That's what I'm trying to do. You deserve it. So what'll it be?"

I told her to bring me whatever she felt like and hung up the phone as I got back to the lab and started to unload the evidence out of the back of my truck. On the third trip outside, Anna was leaned up against the side of my Tahoe, holding a white bag in her left hand and a drink in her right hand. "Lunch is served, my dear." She held out the bag and took a drink of my Coke before she handed it to me. "And it's not poisonous. I checked."

"You're too kind to check for me." She handed me the bag. I looked inside and saw a cheeseburger and some fries from one of my favorite all night restaurants. "Thank you. You're awesome. This is so much better than a Twinkie." I kissed her as I grabbed the last box from my truck and dropped it off at the evidence clerk's desk. I stopped by the receptionist's desk and got Anna a visitor's badge. She clipped it to the Texas Longhorns sweatshirt of mine she had on that matched the pair of grey sweat pants that she was wearing. "Converting to a Texas fan?"

Anna looked down at the shirt, "Uh no. This was the first one I pulled out of your closet and put on. I'm still a Hogs gal. If this gets back to the alumni at U of A, I'm gonna have to turn in my plastic hog hat and snout."

I led her to the break room at the end of the hallway. She pulled out a chair from the table and sat down as I grabbed some napkins and sat down next to her to eat my lunch she brought me. Anna pulled both of her knees to her chest and hugged herself, laying her head on her knees. "You don't feel good, do you?" She shook her head but put it back on her knees when she was done. I pulled her rolling chair in closer to me and put one of my hands behind her neck. "You may have a fever. Take some Motrin or something when you get back home. It's in the cabinet in the bathroom." I finished up my lunch as Anna stayed in pretty much the same position she was in when I started eating. I tossed the wrappers in the trash, "Thank you. I know you don't feel well, but thank you."

I walked with Anna back outside. She took the visitor's badge off of her sweatshirt and handed it back to me, telling me she was going to go back to my apartment and sleep it off. I told her goodbye and let her know I'd be in the lab the rest of the night and if she needed me to call.

I finished up processing what I could for the rest of the night. It was nearing 9AM when I finally dropped the last bag off at trace for them to process. I was heading back to my locker to change when my phone rang. "Hey beautiful. Sleep well?"

"Well, actually I did, but thanks for asking." I turned around to see Greg standing on the other side of me. "You look ravishing yourself, handsome. This whole lab rat look works for you. The lab coat brings out your eyes."

"I'm wearing a blue coat and my eyes are brown, you goof and I wasn't talking to you." I took off the lab coat and tossed it at Greg. "I was talking to Anna, see?" I held out the phone. I gave him a shove as I walked by him to leave the room and head outside. "Sorry bout that. I guess I should have been a little more specific when I said what I did."

"I did for the most part. Just now woke up and figured I'd try to call you. Heading out now?"

"Yeah, leaving now. Heading home. Oh, I forgot to tell you, cable installer will be there after while. Mind hanging out there until I can get there? The rep I talked to on the phone said it'd be between eight and noon."

She said she'd stay awake until then, but still wasn't feeling well. I left the lab and headed home. I saw the cable van in front of my building. I saw the installer leaned inside his truck, writing something on a work order. "You here to install for me?"

He turned around and flipped up a piece of paper. "Nicholas Stokes?"

"Yep. That's me. Come on in."

"Nigel Crane from Luna Cable."

I shook his hand. "Nice to meet you." He walked with me up to the front door. "Just wait right here a minute. I don't want to scare my girlfriend. Let me make sure she's up." I left him at the door as I went to check on Anna. She was in my bed with the covers thrown off of her. "Anna?" I sat down on the bed next to her. She had changed out of the sweat pants she was in last night and was wearing a pair of gym shorts and a tank top. "The cable guy's here. I didn't want to scare you."

She got up and opened my closet door and pulled the Texas sweatshirt she had on last night off the hanger and put it on again. "There. Halfway presentable." She pulled a hair tie out of the bathroom drawer and pulled her hair back in a messy ponytail. I went with her up front and left her on the couch still about half asleep as I let the cable guy in.

He stepped in and looked at me before he started to stare at Anna. Something in the way he looked at her didn't set well with me, but he soon turned his attention to the work order in his hand. "So what are we doing?"

"TV in here, then one in the bedroom for cable."

"Do you mind doing the one in the bedroom first? I feel awful and want to go back to bed and don't want to get you sick if whatever I have is contagious."

He looked over at Anna again as he gave her the same look he gave her earlier. It still didn't sit well with me but after a moment, he turned his attention back to me, completely ignoring Anna. "Sure."

I showed him back to the bedroom and came back to sit with Anna while he worked. "You look a little better." I handed her a pillow from the chair next to the couch and motioned for her to sit up so I could put it behind her.

She sneezed. "I wish I felt better. Sinuses I think or maybe allergies. Or maybe it's some rare virus that no one knows about yet."

"Funny." I poked her in the ribs, knowing she was kidding.

"I was feeling better last night when I stopped by to see you. I really don't want to go to the doctor, but I may have to."

I sat on my knees down on the floor in front of her. Anna put her hands on my neck and brought me in closer to her to kiss me. She rested her head on the top of my shoulder. "Your fever seems to be broken." She pulled her head back and I felt the back of her neck. "Did you check it?"

"Excuse me?"

Anna looked up to see the cable guy in the hallway. She sat back against the couch so I could get up to see what he wanted. I left her where she was as she curled into a ball on my couch. "Yeah, man?" I looked over my shoulder at her again and she was pulling my Texas throw off the back of my couch to wrap herself up with.

He looked over my shoulder at Anna as she finished cocooning herself in the blanket. He was still looking at her in that same way that made me uneasy. "I need in your attic to run the line down and to hook it up. Where's the access?"

I told him it was in the hallway. I heard him pull the stairs down as I went back to Anna. She asked for something to drink and as I was fixing her drink, the cable guy came back. "Where's Nick?"

I looked around the kitchen wall as she peered out from under the blanket. "He's in the kitchen fixing me some green tea. Need me to get him?"

"I'm right here." I handed the glass to Anna. "Here, honey." I turned my attention back to the cable guy after Anna took the glass from me. "What's wrong?"

He motioned for me to follow him back to the bedroom. I stayed back near the door as he picked up a remote he left on the dresser. "Regency Cleaners?"

"Huh?"

He pointed to a receipt on the dresser. "Regency Cleaners. You use them?"

I had forgotten Anna had dropped off two of her uniform shirts to be repaired as well as a few of my shirts that needed to have buttons sewn back on. She needed a new patch sewn on one of them and some buttons put back on another one. "Yeah, my girlfriend dropped off some of our clothes to be repaired. Buttons and stuff." I reached out for the remote. He dropped it in my hand, paying more attention than necessary to the dry cleaning receipt. "So is it hooked up or what?"

"Yep, I'm done back in your room. She can come back here and sleep now while we work on the front one."

I didn't understand the whole we part, but I shrugged it off as I went back up front to get Anna. She had fallen asleep on the couch while cable man and I were in the bedroom. I woke her up long enough to get her to come with me to the bedroom, leaving the cable guy in the living room. I got Anna tucked into bed and closed the door so we wouldn't bother her and headed back up front.

He was already working on drilling a hole in the wall for the cable line when I stopped in the kitchen to fix myself a snack. I heard him talking to himself about something, but didn't want to interrupt. I picked up some case files I had brought home and spread them out on the table as he worked. I started flipping through the pictures, not even paying any attention to anything around me. "You a cop?"

I looked up to see him standing next to me. He had a pair of wire strippers in his left hand and some coax cable in his right. "Uh not really. I'm a criminalist. I work for the crime lab."

"Sounds exciting actually. Get paid to observe people."

The statement he made caught me off guard. "I guess that's one way to look at it."

He went back to the TV and started trying to make small talk to me. I listened about half the time as he finished up about an hour later. "You've got some extra channels I threw in on this TV for you. Sports channels. Noticed you're a Texas fan judging by the rug and the throw on the couch?"

Cable guy was starting to make me more than uneasy, "Yeah. Texas Longhorns all the way and thanks for the extra channels. You didn't have to do that.'

"No problem." He threw some tools into a bag and after casting one last glance around my apartment, started towards the door. He dug in his pocket and handed me a card. "My business card. Call me if you ever have problems or if you just want to go out and grab a beer or something together."

The weird cable man was already making me uneasy the whole time he was here, but I thanked him and let him outside. If I could have, I would have thrown the weird little cable man out the door to get rid of him. I left the case files where they were and dropped his business card and the remote to the new TV cable box on the table and went to check on Anna. She was still asleep on her stomach with the covers kicked off of her. I covered her back up and went to finish on the case files I was looking at.

After getting my laptop out to type out a narrative, I flipped through the case files trying to find my handwritten notes from the crime scene. I spent the next hour typing out narratives from the notes I took about the pictures and evidence collected. Stretching after I was done, I put everything up and tossed the remote on the couch and joined Anna in bed to take a nap before shift started.

We woke up after dark. Anna stayed in bed while I got ready to go to work, falling back asleep while I was in the shower. Not wanting to wake her up again, I left her a note on the night stand on her side of the bed, telling her to call or text me when she got up. After kissing her goodbye, I left my apartment and headed into work.

Assignments were handed out and I got a hit and run with Warrick. We worked together in silence for a while until we got to take a break while the wreckers loaded up the car that was involved in the crash.

I started telling him about the weird little cable guy. "Anna was there with me and he kept giving her this look that still doesn't set well with me. It was almost like he was mad at her for being there or something. I don't know, but it just really got under my skin."

"Little short guy? Dark hair and glasses?" Warrick stopped talking long enough to sign an evidence bag and toss it into the back of his truck.

"Yeah, that's him."

"He installed at a neighbor's apartment about two doors down from mine. I had the window open and was in my living room watching a game. He kept eying me through the window as he kept walking by. I didn't understand why, but I didn't question him. I figured it's best to leave things alone." Warrick crammed another bag in the box in his truck. "Need to get another one. This one's full."

I shoved another bag I was holding into the already crowded box in the back of his truck. "He was there longer than he needed to be and thank God Anna was asleep most of the time he was there. I don't know. He just kept looking at her funny every time he had to be in the same room with her. Made me real uncomfortable but I think Anna was too sick to care. Feels like something was off. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it."

"Nick, your gut instincts aren't usually wrong. Just keep your eyes open and if he made you that uncomfortable, call that 800 number on the customer service sheet he left. Report him."

We finished up on the scene and headed back to the lab to start processing. Before I knew it, it was nearing seven in the morning. Anna sent me a text to let me know she was on her way into work and thanking me for picking up the shirts from the cleaners. I texted her back and said I didn't get a chance to go by. I tossed the phone on the table and forgot about it until it rang almost two hours later. "Working hard?"

Sounding tired, she said she had just gotten back from a run. "It's 9:30 and I've been here 90 minutes and we've already had two runs. One was a no treatment, so that technically doesn't count as all we did was make the scene, but left there and came back to the station. We got back to the station, left there, headed on our second call of the morning and got another one. Dropped him off at the hospital and now we're headed back in." She answered a radio call her dispatcher gave her. "Sorry about that, and yet another one. Bryan's driving, so I can talk."

"I take it the cleaners lost our stuff? I didn't go by. Was gonna go by this morning, but we're just now wrapping up from the hit and run."

Anna answered the radio again. "Thing won't shut up. No, I stopped by the cleaners before I came here to work and they said you had already been by. The clerk said you had come by earlier and said I just missed you by just a few minutes, but I didn't see your truck in the parking lot."

I was racking my brain trying to figure out what was going on. "I didn't go by. I'll stop by when I'm done here and double check. Maybe the clerk was confused?"

"Just let me know. I need my uniform shirts. I've got career day at one of the schools in a couple weeks and needed to get that new patch sewn on." Anna went silent as she radioed to the dispatcher they were about to be on scene. "About to have to hang up. We're almost at the scene and Bryan and I have to put on our Super Medic capes and go save lives or something. According to Bryan, we even have a motto now. 'We save lives, dammit.' He went for originality."

I could hear Bryan in the background adding input to our conversation. "Tell CSI Man we still need a theme song."

"Hear that? Bryan said we needed a theme song to go along with our motto."

"Tell him you were doing the 'MMMBop' thing pretty well in my kitchen."

Anna groaned. "You would bring that up again, huh?"

"I don't know, you dancing to 'MMMBop' wearing those yoga pants. Kinda sexy."

"Yeah. There's nothing sexier than a sick girlfriend in your kitchen stirring spaghetti sauce while singing along to a Hanson song from the 90s." Anna answered another radio broadcast and said they were on scene and she'd be done in a bit.

I told Anna goodbye and she said she'd call me later. I went back to finishing up the evidence and left the crime lab, headed to the cleaners to find out about our missing clothes. When I got to the cleaners, the clerk there told me the same story she told Anna. Another man claiming to be me had already picked everything up a few minutes before Anna had come in. The clerk explained that they could have gotten the clothes mixed up or put our tag on another set of clothes and whoever it was picked it up. "If you'll leave your number, we'll call you if they show back up. Chances are if they picked up the wrong clothes, they'll bring them back to get theirs. It happens. Sometimes tags get mixed up or we invert a number. I'm sorry this happened to you. Truly."

"Thanks." I wrote my number and Anna's number on the lost clothing form she handed me. "Just call either of us. My girlfriend's shirts were the fire department shirts and mine are the other two."

The clerk took the form from me and put it in a drawer. I left still wondering what happened to our clothes. Leaving there, I texted Anna to tell her what I found out at the cleaners and that I was going home to take a nap and would call her later.

**A/N: So can you guess what's coming up in some upcoming chapters?**


	6. With Twilight as My Guide

**Chapter Six – With Twilight as My Guide**

I was at home watching TV when my phone rang. "Hey gorgeous. I was just thinking about you. How's the shift going?"

Instead of Anna, a male voice answered me. "It's going just fine, hot stuff. How's your afternoon?" The voice laughed, "Hey Nick. This is Bryan."

"Oh, hey man." I checked the display on my phone to make sure it was Anna's number and it was. "Where's Anna? Why are you using her phone to call me? Is she okay?"

"Not really. Aggie's is sick. She made it through the first day okay, but she's not gonna make it through the last half of her shift. She's throwing up in the bathroom and has been most of the morning. Shift captain floated over a man on one of the engines to be my driver on the ambulance so she could go home, but she asked me to call you to come get her. She doesn't think she can make it home." Bryan paused, "And judging from what I'm hearing coming from the bathroom, I doubt she makes it out the front door." Another pause. "Jesus. How can someone so small have that much to throw up? Sounds like her body is traveling in the future and is throwing up food she has yet to even eat. Anyway, tell her I will bring her truck home for her. It just so happened that a co-worker of Cathy's brought her in to work today. She was planning on stopping by here after shift tonight to get my truck and I was going to get Aggie to bring me home, so her getting sick actually did work out."

Looking at the grilled cheese sandwich in my hand, I put it down after Bryan's colorful description of Anna getting sick. "Thanks for the visual, man. I just lost my appetite." I got up to go find my shoes. "I'll tell her about the truck and thanks. I'll be there in a minute. Tell her I'm on my way."

"Uh, well…" Bryan trailed off. "If she quits puking long enough, I'll let her know."

I found my shoes and headed out to the fire department where Anna was at to pick her up. Bryan heard me pull in and opened the door for me. "She's quit hurling long enough to lie down on the couch." He looked over my shoulder at my truck parked in the fire department lot. "Hope you got leather seats or I can give you a bucket for her."

"My truck has cloth seats, so the bucket's fine." Bryan went to go find a bucket and told me that Anna was in the common area of the station. I found her stretched out on the couch with her hands covering her eyes. "Anna?"

She just picked one of her hands up off her face, "Hey." She moaned and rolled over on her side, "Nicky, shoot me. Oh, God, someone shoot me. I tried to get Bryan to kill me but he wouldn't. Said it'd do no good seeing as our motto is "We save lives, dammit" and we're in a building with so much life saving equip…oh, God…"

Anna bolted out of the room and back towards the back of the station as Bryan handed me a bucket. "Figured you'd need this. She go throw up again?"

"Yeah, she's in the back." I winced as I heard what was going on in the back of the station. "Now I know I've lost my appetite probably for the rest of the week."

Anna appeared a moment later after getting a bottle of water out of the fridge in the hallway. "Ugh. Kill me."

"I am not going to kill you." I looked at her as she leaned against the wall for support. "You do look like death warmed over though." I held out my hand and Anna took it and we went outside to leave. I thanked Bryan for calling me as he walked out with us. He threw Anna's bag in the back seat of my truck as she got in the front seat with her barf bucket in hand. She managed not to throw up on the way back to my apartment, but the instant we got in the parking lot, Anna made a funny sound, grabbed the keys out of my hand and dashed up the walk and unlocked my door and left the door wide open with the keys still in the lock as she made a beeline to the bathroom. I got her bag and puke bucket out of the front of my truck and made my way inside, pulling my keys out of the lock and shutting the door behind me. Setting her stuff on the floor, I fixed her a glass of water and got some crackers out of one of my cabinets.

Anna came slowly walking back in my living room. She had taken off her black uniform shirt and one boot before falling over on my couch. "Please kill me." She pulled a blanket off the back of my couch and cocooned herself in it. "I'm freezing and I can't hold anything down." She curled up into a ball and stuck her hand out from the blanket long enough to take the glass from me and drink some of the water. "Any bets on how long this'll stay down?"

I told her to stick her leg out of the blanket long enough so I could take off her other boot. She did and after I sat down in front of her, she pulled her leg under the blanket again and started to shiver. "Hopefully a lot longer than the station food." I handed her the crackers. "Eat a few. I'll make you some toast after while. Dry toast. No butter."

"Yippee-ki-yay. I'm sick and on my death bed and I'm being force fed prison food. I hear they serve peanut butter in prison." Anna took the cracker package from me and ate a few of them before reaching for her water again.

"I hate peanut butter. I don't touch the stuff, aside from which, aren't you allergic to peanuts anyway?"

"Oh, I am. Feeding me peanut butter would be a sure fire way to make sure I die. At least I don't have to worry about you having peanut butter here and trying to kill me at the hands of Mr. Peanut. Just the though of it makes me…" She threw the blanket off and ran to the bathroom again.

When she came back in the living room, I saw Anna had changed out of her uniform and into one of my t-shirts and a pair of her own sweatpants and settled back down on the couch and ate a few more crackers before mummifying herself again in my Texas Longhorns blanket that I kept on the back of the couch. She did manage to keep the crackers down this time as we started to finish the movie I started when Bryan called. She fell asleep in the middle of it and woke up just as it was going off. "You still don't look good." I felt Anna's neck. "Your fever's back and it feels like it's higher. I think you need to go to the doctor." Anna complained she was cold so I brought her another blanket. She wrapped herself up in the second blanket as we watched TV, but when she started shivering even after being under two blankets, I told her again she needed to go to the doctor. She started to argue with me, but I cut her off after feeling her neck again. I stood up and pulled the blankets off her. "We're going. Now. I'm not having you die on me." I went back to the bedroom and got the Texas Longhorns sweatshirt she was wearing earlier out of my closet and gave it to her. She put it on over the LVPD shirt of mine that she was wearing and wrapped one of the blankets around her like a robe. I figured she'd argue with me over going, but apparently, she was too sick to argue and knew she needed to go with me. I got a bottle of water out of the fridge and handed it to her. "It's late. The doctors' offices are all closed." I got my keys and my phone and opened the door. "I'll take you to the walk in clinic that I've been to before." Anna didn't argue as she slowly made her way to my truck. She was leaning up against the truck with her forehead on the passenger side window, still holding the blanket wrapped tightly around her as I locked the door to my apartment and hit the button to unlock the doors to my truck. I helped her in and we started towards the clinic.

We got there and made our way inside so she could check in. She took a seat against a far wall in the corner so she could prop herself up. The receptionist handed me a clipboard and told me to get Anna to fill it out. I took the seat next to her as she leaned on me, putting her head on my shoulder. I filled in as much of the info as I could and handed it to her so she could fill in the insurance information and sign it. She filled in the remaining boxes and signed it and handed it back to me. I took it back to the window and the receptionist cheerfully told me that someone would call her in a minute. I glanced up at the clock above the TV before I sat back down. It was almost nine and she was still waiting and shivering next to me. "Do you want me to go get the blanket out of my truck?" She shook her head and I put my arms around her and pulled her in my lap as she leaned against me and sighed.

After another half hour passed before Anna was called to be seen. After the nurse massacred Anna's last name, she led us back to a small exam area. She took Anna's blood pressure and temperature and said she'd be back in a minute. After requesting a blanket, Anna got off the exam table and again sat in my lap, leaning against me as she closed her eyes and we waited on the doctor to come in. An orderly dropped a blanket off and I wrapped her up as best as I could with her being in my lap and not wanting to move much.

An hour and some blood work and x-rays later, we were back in the same little room, still waiting on the doctor to come back in. Anna was close to falling back asleep in my arms when the door opened and the doctor walked in. "Miss, um…" He stared at the form with Anna's name on it. "Um. Miss Gee-geen-deet? Did I get that right?"

I nudged her and she held her head up and dropped the blanket to the floor as she stood up, not even bothering to correct the doctor who just butchered her last name. "Close enough."

"I'm Dr. Shelton." He picked up Anna's chart and started to look through the paperwork. "Looking over your blood work here, looks like you've probably got a touch of the flu with a case of strep throat." He put her file on the table and pulled out his prescription pad. "We need to pull one more x-ray as one of the ones they took earlier didn't come out and do a throat culture to make sure, but it's going around. I noted in your chart that you're a paramedic?"

Anna nodded. "Yes, I'm with the LVFD."

"I thought you looked familiar. I also work at Desert Palms in the ED from time to time." He turned back to the prescription pad in his hand and started writing. "Around sick people as often as you are and it's basically a lock that's what you've got." He tore off the first sheet and started writing on a second sheet. "Here are some prescriptions for an antibiotic to clear up the strep throat and some prescription strength pain killers and flu medication for the aches that the flu is causing. Take some aspirin or Motrin for the fever and come back in two days if the fever hasn't broken or if gets any higher. I'll get the nurse to come in when she gets a chance to take you back to x-ray, then after that, someone will be in with the discharge papers and we'll get you on your way."

"Drugs, radiation and more blood. Goodie." Anna turned her attention back to my shoulder as she sat back down and laid her head on me again. The doctor handed us the blanket before he left.

I was holding her while she rested when my pager went off. "le Damn." I reached under the blanket and got it off my belt. Pushing the button, I read the text. " _419 at 12215 Culver Park Road. Meet Sara and me there. Grissom_." I clipped the annoying pager back on my belt. "Double le damn."

Anna moved her head off my shoulder and started to get up from my lap. "Go, Nicky. It's okay."

"No, they can wait. I'll call Grissom and tell him I can't come in tonight. I need to take you back home."

She got up on the exam table and went to lie down. "Nick, it's okay. I'll call Cathy to come get me. It's after time for your shift to start anyway." She pulled her arm out from under the blanket long enough to check the time. "It's well after eleven. Go. I understand you have to go. It's okay. I'll call someone."

"I hate to just have to leave you like this."

Anna assured me she'd be okay and she understood I had to leave and she promised she wasn't mad at me. The nurse came in again and said she needed to pull some x-rays one more time and do some more blood work, then after that Anna could probably leave. After apologizing profusely for having to leave Anna like I did, I told her I'd check on her later as I left the building.

I got back to my apartment and switched vehicles and headed to the address that Grissom gave me. Two LVPD cars were parked in the driveway and someone had put crime scene tape up across the front lawn. After showing my ID to one of the officers guarding the driveway, he lifted up the tape and allowed me to go in.

"Nick, you're here. Good. Victim's name is Audrey Malone. She's in the back bedroom. Sara's about to go back there and start processing as soon as David gets here to take the body out. I want you in the kitchen first, then in the bathroom. Dust for prints. ALS the usual suspects for the blunt force trauma. There's high velocity spatter all over the room. Someone beat this girl to death. Keep your eye out for the murder weapon. We haven't found it yet."

I got to work in the kitchen and started dusting for prints and collecting samples for trace of something oily all over the kitchen floor. I finished up in the kitchen and made my way to the bathroom. I went to open my kit and realized I was out of fingerprint powder. I told Grissom I was out and went back outside to get more fingerprint powder out of my truck when my phone rang. I was so busy getting stuff out of my truck that I flipped it open and didn't even bother to look at the caller ID. "Stokes."

"Nick?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear and saw that it was Anna's number calling but again it wasn't her voice speaking to me. "Yeah?"

"Hey, Nick. It's Cathy."

"Cathy, hey. Thanks again for going up there with Anna. Some days I hate this job. How's Anna?"

"She's asleep. We're finally getting to go home. The docs gave her something for the pain and a shot of antibiotics and it pretty much knocked her out as soon as they gave it to her. She had to be carried outside. Anna stirred a bit in the car on the way home, but I told her that I'd call you and for her to sleep on our way home. We're just leaving the clinic now."

I checked my watch, "That took a while. It's after 2:30. What'd they say?"

"Flu and strep throat for sure. Anna and I are on our way back to your apartment. I said I'd stay with her in town until you got home. I hope that's okay. Doc wanted someone there in case she had an allergic reaction to the meds he gave her at the clinic and since your apartment is a lot closer than our houses, I told her I could stay with her after we were finished at the clinic."

"Yeah that's fine. I hate to have to cut you off, but I've got to head back in. I'll check on you later, ok?"

Cathy said that was fine and I hung up as I made my way back inside, fresh jar of fingerprint powder in hand, and started in on the bathroom. I had just started to process when Grissom came in the bathroom.

"Nick, you're off the case."

I looked up from the bathroom counter I was dusting. "But I'm not done yet. I just got the place dusted and was about to lift for prints. I've still got to process this room and ALS it."

Grissom grabbed me by the arm and led me outside. "Look, there's a possible conflict of interest here. I can't say any more than that, but I need you to go back to the lab and wait on me."

"Why?"

"I'll explain later. Nick, just go. Leave the stuff you've collected with Sara and go back to the lab. Wait in my office. Go to the morgue and watch Robbins on the autopsy from Greg's case or do whatever you want, but just stay away from this case. Understand?"

I had no idea what was going on, but after giving Sara the evidence in the bin I had collected, I got back in the truck and went back to the lab. I started out in the break room, but doing nothing bothered me. I got up to go to Grissom's office to call Anna to check on her when Captain Brass stopped me in the hall. "Good, you're here. Come on."

"Come on where?"

He looked at me. "Look, I need to ask you some questions on a professional level about the scene you were at. It's best we do this in private."

"Would someone please tell me what is going on here? Grissom throws me out of the crime scene and takes the evidence I collected. He tells me to stay away from this case and now you're here being just as cryptic and want to question me? Jim, tell me."

He walked into Grissom's office and shut the door after I came in behind him. Turning on the overhead lights, he threw a picture on the table in front of me. "The home invasion turned bad we were just at? So what?" I pulled the chair out behind Grissom's desk and sat down. "What's this got to do with me?"

"This is why we had to pull you off of it. Look at the third picture."

Brass put the case folder on the desk. I opened it and flipped to the third picture. A bloody shirt was on the floor underneath the dead girl. I got the magnifying glass from Grissom's desk and held it over the picture. "Oh my God." I focused on the lettering on the shirt and it was one of Anna's work shirts. "That's Anna's. What the hell is her shirt doing there covered in blood?"

"That's why we're trying to figure out. Earlier tonight, I sent a sheriff's office deputy out to her house to pick her up. Uniform said no one was home. Where is she, Nick?"

"Anna? My Anna?"

"Yeah. Your Anna." Brass looked at me. "Where is she?"

"She was headed back to my apartment with a friend of hers. I took her to the 24 hour clinic on Pendleton Avenue. I had to come in to work when I got the page and she called a friend of hers to come get her. Her friend just called me right before Grissom threw me out of the house telling me they were on their way home."

"Alright. Look. We'll be sending uniforms to your house to pick Anna up and bring her in now that I know where she is. You need to wait here as well."

"Uniforms? No. No you're not." I got up from the chair quick enough to send it crashing into a bookcase behind me. "Anna had nothing to do with this and I won't let you treat her like a criminal. No uniforms. I'll go get her."

"Nick, you need to stay away from this. You're involved with Anna and though I believe you that she had nothing to do with this, you need to stay away in case something happens or something does come from all of this. I know you want to help her but remember this, you could hurt her more than you'd be helping her by getting involved."

"Jim, I don't know what the hell's going on here, but if some of the lab rats put you up to this to scare me or something, it worked. Anna has been sick the past week and left work after I went to get her. She's been at the clinic all night long and was at work before that."

"Can anyone verify that?"

"Damn it, Jim. I can. Her partner from work can as well as the other guys at the station. I was with her until I got the call. I left her there in the room and she said she'd call someone to pick her up."

Brass gathered the photos up and put them back in the case folder. "We'll need to verify this with someone other than you. I need someone else who isn't personally involved with both Anna and this case to verify her whereabouts. Look, Nick, this isn't anything personal. I'm with you. I don't think Anna had anything to do with this, but you know it's routine. I'll find out if she's on her way here now. Why don't you go up to the reception area and wait on her? Bring her back here to Grissom's office and have them overhead me when she's here." He turned to leave, but stopped. "And if she needs a lawyer, get her one."

"A lawyer? For what? She didn't do anything."

"I know, Nick. I believe you. You know as well as I do that I have to say that and I have to offer. You know that. Let me know when she gets here."

I pulled the chair back away from the bookcase and sat down again. Putting my head in my hands, I started to analyze in my head what I saw at the crime scene. I tried to think if there was a connection between Anna and the dead girl. Could Anna have been to an ambulance call at the house, got blood on her shirt and left it behind? Did the girl fight Anna at a previous call, ripping the shirt off and in the essence of time, it got left behind to save the girl's life? I shook the thoughts out of my head, knowing there was no way she'd leave her shirt behind at a scene like that. She knew the rules as well as I did when it came to biohazards. If Anna got blood on her clothes at a scene, they had to be bagged and tagged, just like medical waste from the ambulances. I started to play different theories in my head as I waited. I was thinking someone stole one of her shirts from the department. I needed to ask Anna where the locker rooms were and who had access and if anyone could just walk in off the street and take one of her shirts.

I was still lost deep in thought when the overhead system interrupted me, telling me I had a guest. I left Grissom's office and made my way up front and Anna was leaning back in one of the chairs. Anna's color was still as pale as she was earlier. She was resting her head against the wall with a strange woman standing next to her. "Anna?"

"What's going on here?" She stood up and started to walk to me, but she stumbled a bit. The woman behind her caught Anna and with her help, they slowly walked towards the door I was holding open. I let the door go to help Anna. Realizing I had never met Cathy before, Anna introduced us. "Oh, this is Cathy, Bryan's wife. Cathy, this is Nick Stokes."

"I gathered that's who you were. Nice to meet you." Cathy held out her hand for me to shake it and I did. "Someone needs to tell both of us what's going on. Anna called after you left her at the clinic. Bryan is still at work, so I dropped Cody off at the sitter's and left to come get her then when we get back to your place, two police officers tell us they need us to follow them here."

The receptionist handed me two visitors' badges. "Put these on and come with me." I handed the badges to Anna and Cathy. "Judy, tell Brass they're here and to come to Grissom's office."

"Yes, sir." She reached for the microphone and alerted Brass via the PA system that he had a visitor in Grissom's office.

"Nicky, what's going on?"

"Anna, I have no idea. Come on in here and sit. Brass will be here in a minute and he'll explain."

Anna dug a Kleenex out of her pocket and blew her nose. She motioned for Cathy to give her the water bottle she was holding. Anna unscrewed the top and took a long drink before putting the top back on and sitting on the couch in Grissom's office while we waited on Brass to get here.

The door opened and Brass walked in. "So would you please tell me what the hell is going on? It's almost four in the morning and I feel like road kill."

Brass pulled a chair from behind Grissom's desk and sat down, facing Anna and Cathy. "Anna I presume?"

"Yeah. That's me. This is Cathleen Brooks, one of my best friends. Now what's going on?"

Brass looked at me, then at Anna. "Did you want a lawyer?"

She coughed and then sneezed. "For what? Having the flu in a government building?" I had to hide a smile at her smartass remark. "The only thing I want is to know what in the name of all things purple I'm doing here at this time in the morning. I'm sick and I want to go to bed."

"We'll make this as short as possible. Mind if I record this?" Anna shook her head and Brass got a portable recorder from his pocket and pushed the record button. "This is Captain Jim Brass with CSI Nick Stokes, Anna…" He looked at her, "How do you pronounce your name?" She said it for him. "Thank you. Anna Gigandet and Cathleen Brooks. This is Wednesday April 29th and it is approximately 3:50 AM." He opened the folder and handed a picture to Anna but stopped himself before he handed it to her. "Now are you sure you don't want a lawyer?"

"Since I know you need this recorded on tape, I'll say it again and slowly. I. Do. Not. Need. A. Lawyer." Anna sneezed again. "That work?"

"Yes. That'll do." Brass handed Anna a box of Kleenex off of Grissom's desk. "Take a look at this, please."

He handed a picture to her. She took it and looked at it for a moment before speaking. "Other than a random house, what am I looking at?"

"This is a crime scene Nick was at earlier. Do you recognize the house?"

Anna shook her head and got a Kleenex out of the box as she handed the picture back to him. "No. At least I don't think so."

"Do you work only as a medic on one of the ambulances, or do you work on the fire trucks also?"

"I'm a dual role provider. I'm primarily assigned to one of the ambulances, but I usually catch an engine shift once a month or so. Just depends on the staffing for the shifts. Why?"

Brass pulled out his notebook and started writing after taking the picture back from Anna. "Is there a chance you could have had an ambulance or a fire call at this address?"

"Considering the house it still standing and not a charred shell, the fire call is probably a no. But about the ambulance call there, I don't know. I answer, on average, thirty calls a shift. I work two days a week for 52 weeks a year. You do the math. That's a lot of calls, so I don't know. Maybe." Anna motioned for Brass to give her the picture again. He did and she stared at the house again. "The only way to know that for sure would be to check with central dispatch or my shift captain. His name is Zach Seeley." Anna coughed and then sneezed. "He'll have the records. The dispatch super's name is um…Tonya…Crap."

"Tonya Lewis. Her son plays soccer with Cody. Bryan introduced me to her one of the last games that Cody was in."

"Thanks, Cathy. Tonya Lewis would be the one to ask about the dispatch tapes or the records if I've been there in the past on a call. Zach would have the paperwork and narratives that we did if there was a run."

Brass wrote what Anna said in his notebook. "Okay. Good." He took the picture back from her. "Nick was working this scene with Supervisor Grissom and Sara Sidle earlier. CSI Sidle was processing the bedroom where the deceased was." He handed Anna another picture. "This is the deceased. Her name is Audrey Malone and this is her driver's license picture. Recognize her?"

Anna took the picture and looked at it, "Not off the top of my head, no. Why? Why am I being asked about a dead girl and a crime scene Nick worked? What's this got to do with me?"

He took the picture back from her and put it back in the case file. "Nick, if you need to leave the room, now's the time. I can't have you interrupting and interjecting in what I'm about to say. If you start in, I will have you removed. Got it?"

"He stays here with me. Period." Anna got another Kleenex out of the box and blew her nose before tossing the Kleenex in the trash next to the desk. "Or I will request a lawyer and jam you up."

I looked at Brass and shrugged my shoulders. "You heard her."

"Anna, while CSI Sidle was processing the scene, she found this shirt in the bedroom. The spots on the front are blood drops from a high velocity spatter." He handed her the photo and she took it from him. "This is why you're here. We need to know how your shirt got there and a run down on your whereabouts for the last several hours. According to Grissom, the killer held the weapon in their right hand and struck the victim until she died."

Anna sneezed again. "First of all, I'm left handed. Ask anyone that knows me or give me a pen and I'll write out a sonnet for you to prove it. Secondly, I don't know about the shirt and thirdly, as for my whereabouts, my partner Bryan can vouch for me from yesterday up until I left when I got sick. Then after that, ask Nicky. He was with me most of the night at his house or at the Quick Aid clinic on Pendleton Avenue. Nick took me up there about nine I think. He got me checked in and stayed with me until a little after eleven tonight when he got the page. I called Cathy right after he left to come get me. Cathy got there about midnight I think." She turned to Cathy who nodded. "She's been there with me ever since. We stayed there until about two and I got released and Cathy took me home back to Nick's but when we got there, the officers told us to come here."

"Can anyone verify where you were during the thirty minutes after Nick left and the time before Cathy got there?"

I got up quickly again, sending the chair crashing into the bookcase a second time. "Brass, this is insane. Anna didn't do this."

Brass stood up to face me. "Nick. I told you. You can't interrupt. One more and I'll have you thrown out. Got it?" He pulled the chair back towards me and I sat down in front of Anna and Cathy again. "I need the names of anyone who can verify you were there."

Brass got his pen out and started to write as Anna rattled off the people who saw her. "Let's see, I don't remember all the names but there's Nick, the receptionist at the desk who's name was Rita, Kenneth who was the orderly who brought me the blanket, Marie who was the x-ray tech who took the first set of x-rays, William who's a nurse there, two more orderlies who helped me back to the room but I can't think of their names, Helen who was the phlebotomist who took my blood, Trina who was another nurse in the x-ray room, Dr. Shelton, and then Cathy." Brass had stopped writing but Anna wasn't done. "Oh, and the sick kid in the hallway with the balloon, his mother, the lady in the x-ray room with the beehive hairdo, her daughter and another doctor as well as the night janitor. I do remember his name was Mark." Anna stopped listing the names so she could sneeze. "That enough, or need more?"

Captain Brass shook his head, "Uh, no, that's plenty. Did you happen to notice if this place had video cameras? Surveillance?"

"I'm sure there were cameras, Captain. They've got controlled narcotics. Places like those are just prime areas waiting on someone to jump over the counter and hold someone at gunpoint and demand narcotics. Check the tapes."

Brass shot me a look, "Thank you Nick, but I was asking the other Anna." He stopped the tape recorder and stood up. "Look, I don't see that there's going to be a problem here but we need you to hang around until we can verify some of this."

"I'll confess to kidnapping the Lindbergh baby and the JFK shooting if you'll find me somewhere so I can sleep." Anna fell over on her side and brought her legs up to her chest. "Please?"

Brass looked over behind me when he heard the door opening behind where I was standing. "Gil. We're just about done here."

"She can stay in my office." Grissom opened the door so he could come in. "And I doubt if you were even alive when JFK was shot or when the Lindbergh baby was kidnapped, but nice to offer. So sorry about this, Anna, but it's procedure." He went in a closet at the back of his office and handed her a pillow and a blanket. "You can stay here. Nick, you can't be alone with her. Not until this is done. Catherine, Jim or I will need to be here with you if you're in the room with Anna." He started to lead me out of the office as I looked over at my shoulder at Anna. She had taken the pillow and blanket and had curled back up into a ball as Cathy was draping the blanket over her. Grissom led me outside and stopped. "Look, I don't know what's going on here. I'm with you and with Brass on this. I think Anna's shirt was planted. Did she mention losing any or anything?"

I tried to think, but came up blank. "I can't think of anything off…oh wait…" I remembered the cleaners and the lost clothes from earlier. "Anna dropped some of our clothes off at the cleaners. Where's that picture of her shirt again?" Grissom flipped through the file Brass had given him and showed me the photo. "Can I ask her a question, or do you need to do it?"

"What's the question?"

"I just need to ask her what shirts she dropped off at the cleaners. Anna had to have some buttons sewn back some of her shirts and some on mine too, but she also needed a senior medic patch put on her shirts. She got promoted not too long ago. The shirts were picked up by accident or misplaced. She said she went by there, but the clerk had told her I picked them up but I didn't. I left my name and number hoping someone would return them, but no one ever called." I stared at the picture again. "These are her class A uniform shirts. They don't wear these unless they're at an event or court. Rest of the time, they wear those black shirts with the BDU pants. You've seen her."

Grissom took the picture back from me. "Just to be safe, stay out here and let me ask her." Grissom went inside and squatted down on the floor in front of Anna. She took the picture from him and stared at it before she answered the question. He stood back up and came back out to me a few moments later. "You were right. She said this is one of the ones that she left at the cleaners. She said she has two long sleeve shirts and two short sleeve shirts and she dropped the two short sleeve shirts off at the cleaners. She said the senior medic patch under her name was the one she needed added and in this picture, it's sewn it on. It looks like someone's trying to set her up for the murder." He looked through the glass door at Anna. "You can go in there, but I trust you enough not to discuss the case with her. Nick, you know the consequences if something were to happen. You'd lose your job and be arrested too."

"I know that and you have my word." I opened the door and turned to thank Grissom, but he was already walking down the hall towards trace. "Feeling any better?" Anna shook her head and wrapped the blanket tighter around her body. I pulled the chair Brass was sitting in front of the couch. "Cathy, you can go home if you want. I'll stay with her."

"I do need to go get Cody." Cathy picked up her purse and I told Anna I'd be right back. I left her on the couch as I took Cathy back up to the reception area. She handed the badge back to Judy. "Nick, what do you think is going on here? Anna didn't do this. You know it."

"I know she didn't. You know she didn't. The girl was killed earlier in the day and Anna was at work, with me or at the clinic with one of us and probably over two dozen surveillance cameras. One of the other CSIs is going through the video surveillance footage from the clinic. I'll let you know what happens and thanks for helping me with Anna. Sometimes I just hate this job for calling me at the most inopportune times."

Cathy left and I went back to stay with Anna. She was asleep on the couch in Grissom's office. I went back to the locker room and got some sports magazines from Greg's locker and headed back to Grissom's office to stay with Anna. As I flipped through the magazine, I didn't even notice when Brass came back in. "Nick?"

I jumped, "Yeah." I stood up. "How's it going? Any news?"

"Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you." He and I left the room so we wouldn't disturb Anna. "Well, Sara and Greg looked through the surveillance footage from the clinic. You and Anna are in a lot of the shots. Apparently that place has more cameras in use than most other buildings. Video footage confirms that both of you were there until you got the page. We got a shot of you leaving just after the page and right after that, we got footage of Anna in a chair in the hallway for about half an hour until her friend got there. She never left out of the camera's line of sight until her friend got there. From what Greg said, her friend never left Anna's side the entire time they were there and they were on cameras in multiple locations the rest of the night until they left and Cathy took her back to your place and we intercepted. Looks like she's off the hook and the story checks out, but we still need to find out who killed Audrey Malone and why they tried to make it look like Anna had something to do with it. We're going to check with the shift captain after while and check into Anna's reports with the fire department and find out what's going on there to see if there's a connection." He looked over my shoulder at Anna, still passed out on Grissom's couch. "Gil said you can take her home, Nick. Tell her I'm sorry about all this and I hope she feels better." He put his hand on my shoulder as he left Grissom's office.

I woke Anna up and carried her out to my truck and took her home to my apartment, wondering the whole time who was trying to set her up.


	7. Walking on Broken Glass

**Chapter 7 – Walking on Broken Glass**

"Where's the tow truck driver?" I looked around, trying to find out where the driver went. "We gotta get this car out of here and back to the lab."

"He's over there." Catherine looked over as the driver was standing under a tree out of the rain. "I'll go get him." She went over to where he was and pulled him back to us. "Get it out. We're losing evidence."

The tow truck guy looked confused. He looked up at the sky and wiped rain off of his face. "But it's raining."

"Wow." I looked at Catherine as she shook her head. "Someone's really a master of the obvious. They teach you that in tow truck driving school?" I was getting soaked as I stood out in the rain waiting. The rain coat I had on wasn't helping much. "Just get the car up here so I can get the medics to pronounce and we can go. We're losing evidence because of the rain and we've got to get this car moved."

The tow truck driver went to work as I looked down at the smashed remains of the Ford Explorer. "Hey Nicky."

I turned around, knowing who the voice belonged to. "Hey Anna. You and Bryan first on the scene I take it?" I noticed then she was in her firefighting turnouts, rather than her paramedic uniform. "Now that's hot."

"I wouldn't go that far." Anna pulled the visor of her helmet down, shielding herself from the rain. "Yeah. We were the first on scene. I'm not with Bryan today. I'm on the engine. One of the ladder guys got what I had so I was brought over to take his place and another guy was brought in to drive Bryan around." She started to laugh, "It's like a demented version of Driving Miss Daisy." Straightening up when Bryan flipped her off, Anna returned the gesture and continued, "We got here and PD told us the car skidded off the road. Give some college kids a fast car and some beer plus in an unexpected obstacle like Bambi over there…" Anna turned around to look at the deer in the highway the kids hit. "Or really, what's left of Bambi over there and throw in some rain, momentum and physics and you get this." She looked over at the Explorer as the tow truck driver was hooking the tow chains to the crumpled truck to pull it up over the embankment and onto the road. "Angel Rescue just left. Front seat passenger was just air lifted by them to Desert Palms. It took the Jaws of Life to get him out. He was alive when we pulled him out, but crashed once we got him in the helicopter. Don't know if he's gonna make it. The driver didn't." She looked at the driver, still in the truck. "Poor kid. Waiting on us to pronounce I take it?"

Catherine handed Anna the form she needed to fill out to pronounce the kid. "After you, my lady. Tow truck driver won't pull it out until you're done. We're following you."

Bryan took the form from Anna, "Well, me really. I just need Aggie's signature."

Anna held her hand out and I helped her down the embankment in front of me. She stopped when she got to a tree to adjust a bag she was carrying. "So if you're on the engine today, why does Bryan need you?" I reached out for a tree to keep from sliding down the rest of the way as Bryan passed me. "Your partner can't help you?"

"Nope." Bryan shook his head, "I need another medic to help pronounce. My partner today is just a driver. That's why I needed Aggie or one of the Angel Rescue medics if they were still on scene. They're gone so I'm stuck with her." After Bryan spoke, Anna turned around and shot him the bird for the second time since we had been here.

We slowly made our way down the rest of the embankment without falling. Bryan reached through the driver's side window and attached leads to the kid's chest from the monitors Anna was holding. "No activity." Bryan pulled the leads off of the driver and handed the wires to Anna. "Poor kid." Anna handed him a pen light out of her pocket. He turned it on and shined it in the kid's face. "Both pupils are blown, non reactive." He handed the light back to Anna as she wrote something on the form. He looked down and shook his head. "Going too fast usually doesn't end well with a drunken college kid, Bambi and rain thrown in the mix." Anna gave the form to Bryan who started to fill it out. "By the power vested in me by the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you dead." He signed it and handed it to Anna to sign as his witness. "All yours, CSI Man and CSI Lady."

Anna held her hand out waiting on Bryan to hand her the pen so she could sign it. "Now that's a creative way to pronounce someone dead, partner." After he dropped it in her hands, Anna took her glove off so she could sign the form. "You always did have a way with words." She signed it and handed it to Bryan. He tore off the copy we needed and handed it to Catherine. "Remind me of that line next time we work together." After giving Bryan back his pen, Anna flipped the visor of her helmet up and started towards the truck. "We're outta here and on our way back to the station."

I told Catherine I'd be right back and walked with Anna to the engine. She took off the turnout coat she had on and tossed it inside the engine as she held her helmet in her hands. "I'll stop by later if I can."

"You know where I'll be." Anna got in the truck and they left, headed back to the station. Catherine and I finished up at the wreck site and headed back to the lab to start processing the evidence we had collected. A few hours later, Catherine said she was going home to check on Lindsey and if I wanted to go grab lunch, she'd page me when she got back. Taking that as my cue, I left to see Anna. I called her to make sure she was awake and she said they were, having just got back from a call.

I knocked on the side door and Bryan answered. "CSI Man. Welcome." Bryan left the door open for me to come in as he went back to the TV. "Sorry to be rude. Deadliest Catch is on. Aggie's here somewhere." He sat back on the couch with another fireman and soon became lost in the show.

Anna came in from one of the bedrooms of the station and came through the common area and stopped long enough to stare at Bryan. "CSI Man? Really?" Anna looked at him as she shook her head. "Can't remember his name or what?"

"I can, but CSI Man sounds better. We all have nicknames up here and Nick needs one, too. He's up here as much as you are and because of that, he's an honorary fireman therefore he needs a nickname." He picked up his glass of tea and took a drink. "Union bylaws. You should know that, my dear."

"Nice, Bullfrog." Anna rolled her eyes. "Guess it could have been worse."

"Hungry? I brought lunch. Or dinner." I looked at my watch. "Or a 3:30 snack."

We ate in the kitchen, away from where everyone was watching Deadliest Catch with Bryan. "So I know the story about how you got your nickname. What's the story behind Bryan's?"

Anna put her fork down. "Bullfrog's story."

"Do I want to know?"

She stabbed a bite of her food before answering. "I'll do my best to make it as PG as possible. We had dinner one night up here right after I first started. Bryan was my FTO and well, I'll just put it nicely and say that dinner didn't agree with Bryan and he wound up in the bathroom and well, it sounded like a bullfrog being run over by a semi."

"le Damn." I blinked a few times as I stared at Anna. "That's, wow. That sounds like it'd fit up here."

After we finished eating, I still had a few minutes left before I had to go back to the lab. Rather than have Bryan and the other fireman gawk at us, I took Anna outside. She leaned up against my Tahoe to retie the laces on her boots as I got the keys out of my pocket and unlocked the doors so I could get ready to head back to the lab. I left the door open and the keys in the front seat and hugged her close to me and breathed in her intoxicating vanilla scent. "I don't want to go. Need any help on the trucks?"

Anna kissed me. "I'd find something for you to do. I've seen you work enough. You haven't seen me earn my keep at all. Well, other than that time you killed that flower pot when we first met and again at the golf course that day." She started to laugh, "You do know that every time I see a flower pot, I think of you now and seeing as how I walk by two of them every time I come in the station from outside, that's a lot."

I returned the kiss and tightened my arms around her, picking her up so she was eye level with me. "It could be worse." Anna put her legs around my waist and wrapped her arms around my neck. I kissed her again and reluctantly put her back on the ground. I was enjoying the moment outside alone when I noticed something tucked under the windshield wiper of her truck. "Looks like you've got a secret admirer."

Anna broke the hug and looked at her truck. "Leave me a love note?" She took my hand in hers and walked towards her truck to get the note. She put her hand on the door handle so she could pull up to reach the side step but stopped and stepped back down and looked at her hand. "It's oily." She let go of the door handle and rubbed her fingers together. "It smells like…" She stopped talking and looked down at her fingers again. "Oh, God." She dropped my hand and sprinted inside as I followed her in.

"Aggie?" Bryan stood up as we ran to the bay area of the fire station.

Anna opened the door from the station into the bay and ran to the ambulance. She pulled the door open and climbed in, sitting down on the bench seat. I watched as pulled one of the plastic drawers out of the cabinet and set it on the seat next to where she was as she started to go through whatever was inside. After dumping the contents of the drawer upside down and spilling it all over the ambulance, she finally found what she needed and I watched as Anna untucked her shirt and unbuttoned her pants enough to expose her upper thigh. She was holding something that looked like a highlighter and in one motion, she took the cap off and stabbed herself in the leg with whatever it was she was holding. She dropped it and went to lie back on the seat. "Anna, what was that?" I picked up the thing she dropped and read the label, "An Epi Pen?"

"Peanut butter." She turned to look at me as she started to breathe even harder than she was before, "It was peanut butter on my door handle." Anna was breathing funny and sweating, "Allergic reaction setting in." She started to shake and she sounded like she was having problems breathing. "Get Bryan. Now." Anna gasped again as she started to shove me out of the ambulance. "Nick, I'm serious." She started gasping again, "Go, go!"

As Anna started gasping even harder, I turned to go back in the station and ran into Bryan and the other guy coming out to check on us. Bryan looked in the ambulance at Anna. "Jesus Christ in a bowl of white rice, Aggie. What's wrong?" She was still gasping and didn't answer him as he climbed in beside her and told her to move to the gurney. After watching her for a moment and getting no response out of her, he turned to look at me. "CSI Man?"

"She stabbed herself in the thigh with that Epi Pen and told me to come get you."

Bryan picked it up and threw it in a sharps container in the back of the ambulance and started to check Anna's vitals. "Damn. Aggie, what happened?"

"Peanut butter." Anna gasped as she was still having problems breathing. "Someone left a note on my…" She had to stop speaking because she was still gasping, "On my truck. Nick was getting ready to leave when he noticed I had something on my windshield. I put my hand on the door…" Anna's words were coming out in short sentences as she had to stop and catch her breath. "I put my hand on the door handle to…step up on the side step of my truck to reach it and the door handle had peanut butter on it...I started to sweat outside and I could feel my heart…racing and I knew I was about go into anaphylactic shock. So I came here and got one of the Epi Pens from the truck."

Bryan checked her blood pressure and respiration rate. "Your rates are still high. Do you need to go home?"

"No, no. I'm fine." As she spoke, her breathing was still ragged and harder than I would have liked to have seen, but I knew she was in good hands with Bryan, "You got stung last month and you didn't…go home after you…got stung or after I stabbed you with the Epi Pen. Just let me stay here a bit and give me the O2." He handed her a mask as he reached up to turn it on.

Anna put the mask across her face and went to lie back down on the gurney in the back of the truck. Her breathing rates were slowing, but she was still gasping some. "Anna, stay with Bryan. I'm gonna go call Catherine and get that note and see what's going on."

I called Catherine and told her what was going on and I needed her to come to the station. She told me to wait there and she'd be over in just a minute. After hanging up with Catherine, I went back in the station to check on Anna. Bryan said her rates were coming down. I saw Catherine pull up outside, so I left Anna with Bryan and the other firefighter and met Catherine outside. "Nick? What happened?"

"Anna came outside with me to tell me goodbye before I headed back to the lab." I motioned towards her truck, "I saw that on the windshield and Anna put her hands on the door handle here so she could step up and get it. Peanut butter is on the handle."

"And let me guess, Anna's allergic?"

"Yes. Very allergic."

Catherine put on a pair of gloves and got the note off Anna's truck and opened it as she spoke out loud to herself, which was something we all did at crime scenes, "The envelope is larger than a regular envelope. 5x7 envelope." She flipped it over to see the back. "No postal markings on the envelope meaning that it was probably dropped off by someone who knew which car was Anna's." Catherine surveyed the other six cars in the lot next to Anna's, "All of them have fire fighter plates, so this was someone who knew which one was Anna's." As she opened the envelope, she shook a note out and as she read it, even though it was dark outside, I could still see the color drain from Catherine's face. She looked up at me so I could see the look she was giving me before she handed me a pair of gloves out of her field kit and told me to put them on. I put them on and Catherine handed me the note.

I read it and then looked up. "Cath, please tell me this is a sick joke."

"Nick, what's it say?"

I turned around and Anna was coming around the side of the building with Bryan next to her and the other fireman behind him. Anna was leaned against Bryan as he supported her weight while she stood up, "It's telling you to stay away from something." I looked at the note again. It was a simple note written on white copy paper. "Your name was printed on the front of the envelope in block letters." I looked at Anna and read the note to her. " _This is what happens when you get in the way. You'll learn one way or another."_ I flipped the note over and looked on the back. "Nothing. Cath, was there anything else in the envelope?"

She shook it again. "Just a newspaper article." She turned it over to read it. "It's about the Audrey Malone case." Catherine put the article in an evidence bag and sealed it.

"This had better be someone's idea of a sick prank gone wrong. The note is one thing, but the peanut butter?" Anna rubbed the spot on her thigh where she injected herself with the Epi Pen. "You know how allergic I am to peanuts."

Catherine looked over at her, "How bad is your allergy to peanuts? Rash? Breathing problems?"

"Someone tosses a peanut at me and it touches me and I get a rash. Someone smears peanut butter on my door handle and I touch it or if someone puts peanut butter in something I eat and I do eat it, I cease to exist if I don't get treated. I could have died. I was out here thirty seconds, maybe, and I could already feel my heart rate rising and my breathing becoming more labored. Whoever did this knew enough to put a lot of peanut butter on my door handle so I'd react."

Catherine handed Anna the bag with the note inside of it. "Look at this and see if you recognize the handwriting."

Anna held her hand out and took the bag from Catherine and read the note. "This is the note someone left on my truck?"

"Yes. Do you recognize the handwriting?"

"I don't, Catherine." Anna flipped the note over to look at the back. "I have no idea who wrote this is." She handed Catherine the bag. "The writing is too plain."

Catherine read the note again through the plastic evidence bag. "Now that's disturbing." She took the second bag and looked at the newspaper article. "This is the case where Anna's shirt was found, wasn't it?" Catherine motioned for me to hand her the third bag with the envelope in it.

"Yes it is the same case with Anna's shirt. Anyone could have written that note. It's about as useless as type set. You haven't heard anything at the lab about someone not liking Anna? Who else could have known that we found Anna's shirt at the scene?"

"I highly doubt anyone at the lab is doing this to her, Nick. They're more into pranks in the office, not messing with someone's life. As for who could have known, I don't know. Reporters? The killer? A witness? Someone who has a subscription to the newspaper this article was in? The only thing we do know is someone is playing a really sick game with Anna." Catherine flipped the bag over to look at the back of the note. "Nothing on the back. No writing. Nothing." She looked at the bag with the envelope. "Glue seal it looks like. No DNA but I'll have Wendy check it for me anyway."

"That's all well and good, but I just want to know who's doing this and why." Anna looked like she was on the verge of tears. "The note is one thing, but the peanut butter?"

Catherine looked up from the bag she was holding. "Who knows you're allergic to peanut butter, other than Nick and me?"

"Cath, she wears a medical bracelet. Anyone who got close enough to that bracelet would know she's allergic." I noticed that Anna wore the bracelet relatively early in our relationship. Anna had told me about her peanut allergy after one of my neighbors had baked some cookies for the rest of the tenants in the building I lived in. Anna couldn't eat them because my neighbor had put peanuts in the batter.

"Nick's right. I do wear one." Anna shook her arm and the bracelet fell to her wrist. She took it off and held it out for Catherine to take. "I've worn this bracelet for years and it lists peanuts and penicillin as my allergies. I'm deathly allergic to both. I've worn this bracelet since high school when I got sick from penicillin. The only time I take this off is when I sleep. The links get tangled in my hair but you'd have to be really close to me to read it. The engraving is on the bottom of the bracelet."

Catherine took the bracelet from Anna and turned her flashlight back on so she could see it better. "This bracelet lists your name, birth date and your allergies." She flipped it over and looked at the front. "Mind if I hold on to this. Dust it for prints? I'll give it to Nick and he can bring it to you when he gets off work later on."

Anna rubbed her hands across her sleeves. "That's fine. I'll be working here and everyone knows I'm allergic to both anyway. Just make sure I get it back. That's the only one I've got."

"You'll get it back in a few hours when we're done. I'll get Mandy to dust it as soon as we get back to the lab." Catherine dropped the bracelet in a bag and got a pen out of her pocket and started writing up a report about the note. "Anna, how long have you been here? I'm going to put this in a report so if something else happens, we've got a paper trail."

"I got to work this morning at my normal time. We've had a few calls since then and I didn't notice anything on my truck. I backed into the spot this morning when we got here and each time we get back to the station, we have to use this driveway where we park to come in the back part of the station so the trucks are all facing the right direction in the bays. That makes the engines easier to get out in a hurry. Our last call was around midnight or so. Dispatch will have the exact time. We got back here around 1:15 I think. It was right before Nick got here. I've been up with Bryan and Brandon watching Deadliest Catch from earlier tonight."

Catherine started writing down what Anna was saying. "So you didn't notice anything then?"

Anna shook her head, "No. I didn't. I'd have to ask Bryan and Brandon. Bryan?" Anna turned around to look for Bryan. "You see this on my truck?"

Bryan shook his head, "No. Our last run was right before yours. Y'all got back before we did, then we got back and then CSI Man got here."

"I was driving the engine earlier and I didn't see anything and I know I looked over there. I always do to make sure when I turn to go in the bay doors I'm not going to hit one of our cars." Brandon looked at Anna's truck before turning his attention to Catherine. "I know for a fact it wasn't there when we got back right before CSI Man got here. Aggie's truck's on the end right there and I know I looked at it as I turned in to make sure I wasn't going to hit her X. She'd beat me if I did."

"Not hard enough to leave a mark, but thanks, dear." Anna sighed. "What a night."

"Tell me about it." Anna stood next to me, angling her body close to mine. "Cath, I didn't see anything, but I also wasn't looking. My Tahoe's over there." I pointed a few spaces up from Anna's truck. "I had to drive right by Anna's truck and I didn't look, so it could have been there, but with the envelope being that big, I'm sure I would have noticed it."

Catherine finished writing on the report. "I need to dust your truck for prints. Yours are in the system aren't they?"

Anna nodded, "Yep. We all got fingerprinted for the job when we started, plus I'm also on file for having an advanced paramedic license and a DEA number for the field."

"That'll eliminate you when we find yours on the truck, which we expect to. Where was the peanut butter? You didn't wipe it off, did you?"

"I didn't touch the peanut butter except for when I touched the handle to pull myself up. If I touched it again, I'd be tempting fate. I used an alcohol wipe and washed it off my hands in the ambulance after I injected myself with the Epi Pen."

Anna showed Catherine where the peanut butter was. She scraped some off the door handle after taking some pictures of it. "Looks like some prints, but they're probably yours, but we'll check it." Catherine got her flashlight out and looked over Anna's windshield. "I don't see anything, but let me ALS it and dust it." Anna stood next to me while Catherine checked for fingerprints on her truck. "I may have something." Catherine got a fingerprint duster and some powder out of her kit and lifted a print from the paint on Anna's truck. "Found a fingerprint." She lifted it and put the card in her vest pocket while she stepped down off Anna's truck. "Anna, let me see your hands. I can check it right now to see if it's yours or not." Anna held her hands out towards Catherine as she pulled the card out of her vest pocket and checked. "Not even close." Anna put her hands back in her pockets as Catherine put the print card in her kit. "Nick, did you touch it?"

"No. Anna realized that it was peanut butter and she ran inside the station and I followed her. I didn't have a chance to touch it."

"What about you two?"

"No." Brandon shook his head. "Bullfrog and I came out only after Aggie said she was feeling good enough to come outside and check with CSI Man to see what was going on. We didn't touch it either, but we are both in the system. Frog's got a DEA number like Aggie and I'm in the system for being with the LVFD. The other three guys at the station are all in the system as well."

"Thanks. I'm gonna take the print I lifted back over to the lab with the note and the envelope. Mandy will check them for prints. I'll let you know if we find anything."

Bryan and Brandon left to go inside as Catherine was getting ready to leave. Catherine finally left, leaving Anna and me alone in the lot. I could tell that Anna was still worried about the note. "I'm going to talk to Grissom and Brass about getting you a cop to follow you around or something until we get this straightened out."

Anna groaned. "Nick, I don't need a babysitter. I'm fine. I've got Bryan with me and 99% of the time when we make a call, there are at least half a dozen cops nearby. I'm fine."

"Please. Let me do this. You're a FTO, right?"

"Yeah. Bryan and I both are. Why?"

"He can be undercover as a new trainee or something. You could have him driving and you and Bryan could still be in the back doing the real medical work. I'd do it myself, but if someone is watching you, they obviously know who I am and they'd know what's going on. We'd need someone no one knows about."

Anna put her arms around me and put her face into my chest as if she was hiding. "I don't know." She shook her head. "This is all a bit much, Nick." She looked up at me so I could see her face.

"Let me at least find out what Brass thinks first. He may not even go for it. I don't know. Just a thought. I just want to keep you safe if there is someone out there who has it in for you. Plus your birthday's in two weeks and I've got a surprise in store for you." I kissed her and hugged her tightly.

Anna looked up at me. "What is it?"

I kissed her again. "You'll have to wait." I checked my watch. "I hate to have to do this, but I've got to get back to work. Catherine said she'd tell Grissom I was late because of helping you, but she's been back at the lab and if I don't get back, I'm gonna have the hounds out after me." I put my hands on her cheeks and kissed her again. "I'll have my phone on me all night long. If anything looks bad, call. Call me immediately." Kissing her again, I felt her arms tighten around me. "This will all be over soon. You've got the best lab in the country working on this. Present company included."

Anna kissed me again. "Now that does make me feel better. I'm headed back inside to sleep until we get another call. Let me know if Catherine finds anything."

I left Anna and headed to the lab to finish my shift.

We got busy as usual and the hours flew by. I was just getting ready to go to the locker room to change to go home when a call came out for me to head to a house fire in town. I put everything I was working on in the evidence bin and locked it and headed towards the scene. The detective I spoke to when I first got to the scene said he thought it was accidental judging from the victim's statement, but they still wanted us there to do an investigation. I was getting my kit out of my truck and getting out a new scene form when I heard Anna call out to me. I turned around and she was walking towards me. "Career change again? Thought you were going back to the ambulance for this shift?" Anna had taken off the heavy turnout coat that some of the other firemen on scene had on, but still had on the pants and red suspenders and was still wearing her helmet. "This whole fireman thing you got going on…Wow. Sexy. Haven't seen you in these much. The red suspenders are by far the sexiest thing about the outfit."

She looked down at her pants. "Ha. It's like walking outside with an electric blanket wrapped around me and turned on the highest setting. Thank God I'll be back on the ambulance next shift. I was supposed to go back today, but one of the firemen called in sick a little bit ago. Engine company was still shorthanded, so shift captain asked me to ride with them and put a driver from another station with Bryan on the ambulance. I'm sure he's heartbroken not being able to work with me two days in a row. New guy who's driving for Bryan's probably gonna need therapy after this. Wonder if that's covered under workers comp?"

"Doubt it." Anna had two plastic tags in her hand with a D ring clip hanging from each the tags. She tried clipping them to the loop on the back of her helmet but one of them fell and I picked it up. "What are the dog tags for?" I dropped the blue one I was holding into her outstretched hand.

"Scene tags. Each station has an incident commander and in this case, it's Torrey over there." She pointed towards a man talking to one of the LVPD officers. "We give the blue one you picked up for me to the incident commander when we're here. It's basically just a way for us to know who's in the building if it collapses or something or if someone doesn't come out. The tags the IC has are given back to us when we clear the scene and get ready to leave. It's kinda like a head count in school after a field trip before you board the bus to go back to school. The red one on the back of my helmet we keep and if we get hurt, we give to the IC if we need medical aid that way they don't send other people back in to look for us if they can't find us outside. If he's got the red tag that means we're either being treated or we're at the hospital and not inside being cooked to death."

"Makes sense. Y'all finished up here?" I turned my attention back to the form I was filling out for the crime scene. Anna said nothing and I looked up to see what was wrong. "You look like something's bothering you." Anna had a look on her face I've seen a few times since her shirt showed up at the crime scene and again earlier after the peanut butter incident. "What's wrong?"

"It may be nothing. I don't know, but something's off. Don't y'all usually take crowd pictures at scenes like this?"

"Sometimes. Depends. Why?" I looked past Anna at the gathering crowd. "You see something?"

She rubbed her hands across her arms. "I don't know. Maybe someone is watching us? I don't know." She looked over at the crowd for a moment before diverting her gaze back to me. "Something just doesn't sit right. Think you can snap some shots, just in case? I've got chill bumps and it's hot outside and I'm in these turnouts. I shouldn't have chill bumps but I do."

"Yeah, Catherine's taking exterior shots of the damage around back. I'll tell her to get some. Stay here." I found Catherine looking in a bush at the back of the house. "Hey, think you can take some crowd shots?"

"Yeah, why?" Catherine stood up and turned to face me before shooting a few more pictures from the angle she was in while she stood next to me. "What for? Damage is in the back."

"Anna's still kind of uneasy about the note thing from earlier. She's got chills and asked me to get you to take some for her."

"Yeah. I can do that right now. The peanut butter incident had me a bit upset and it wasn't even my car. Anyone in particular she's thinking about?"

We walked back around the front of the house and I spotted Anna talking with one of the other firemen. He handed her a clipboard and she wrote something on it and handed it back to him. "No, she didn't. Anna just says she feels like someone's watching her." I looked at the crowd, trying to find anyone who didn't belong. No one stuck out. "I don't know. She may be overreacting, but after the shirt and now the note and the peanut butter I'm beginning to think she's right and something is off. Humor her please but don't tell her I said anything about this bothering me, please?"

Catherine and I started to walk towards Anna. Catherine stopped at her Tahoe to get something as I kept walking towards where Anna was. With her voice barely above a whisper, Catherine told Anna she'd take the crowd shots for her. We watched as she moved around behind one of the squad cars and began to shoot pictures of the crowd.

Catherine took several shots before moving to a different area and shooting again. "She's doing it now for you. The way she's aiming to take the shots, it looks like she was getting pictures of the yard and bushes which are on the same side as where the fire broke out, but they'll actually have the crowd in the background. That note really had you freaked out?"

"Between that and the near death earlier at the hands of a jar of Jiff? Yeah." Anna turned to watch the crowd again but shook her head and diverted her attention back to the scene. "You thinking like us and that it's accidental?"

"Looks that way to us. Same for your report?"

"Yeah, we think so. Fire's in the rear of the house in the laundry room. Looks like dryer overheated and caught fire from what we could tell. We went in, put it out and waiting on someone from the crime lab to finish it up so we could split. Now that you're here, I'm headed back. Did you get a chance to talk to Grissom or Brass yet?"

I shook my head. "I don't know why they sent both Catherine and me here for this little scene, but whatever. As for talking to them, not yet. I stayed in the lab most of the night processing from that accident earlier in the night. I'll let you know." I put my hand on her shoulder and used my fingers to trace down her arm until I held her hand. "We'll find out who's doing this. I promise." I let go of her hand as Anna's engine number was called out on the radio and she and the other three men on the engine left the scene. I went back inside the house and I could tell by looking at it that this was an accident. I collected some evidence and took some pictures of the dryer and the damage done to the room and left the house, telling the homeowner that we'd write it up as an accident so her insurance would pay for it.

I got back to the lab and was in locker room changing when Grissom stopped me. "Nick, what happened to Anna earlier? Catherine said someone tried to kill her?"

I pulled my shirt off and stuck it in my locker and reached for a clean one. "Someone put a note on her windshield." I put the shirt on and faced Grissom. "Someone put an entire jar of peanut butter on the door handle of Anna's Xterra and Anna's allergic. Bad allergic."

"She okay?" Grissom started looking through the papers in the case file. "I didn't see anything in Catherine's report about a hospital trip?"

"No, she stayed at the station and got an Epi Pen out of the truck. Her partner treated her and she didn't need to go." I took my belt off and watched as Grissom flipped through the file Catherine gave him. "Listen, I did need to talk to you about something."

"Come on to my office when you get done." Grissom left the locker room. I changed my pants and put my shoes back on and headed upstairs.

"Grissom?" He looked up from a cage. As he turned to face me, he had a spider crawling on his arm. "New pet?"

"Yes. New tarantula. Haven't named her yet as I just got her earlier tonight. What a beautiful creature." He held the spider towards me. "You want to hold her?"

"Uh, no. Thanks anyway, though. Spiders and I don't get a long very well."

He put the spider back in the aquarium and shut the lid. "So what's up, Nick?"

"I was thinking about all of this with Anna. First, the shirt at the scene and we still don't know how it got there and now the peanut butter on her door handle? Sounds like someone's got a grudge against her and she and I both can't figure out who's doing this or why. She says she doesn't have any enemies and no one is mad at her, but apparently someone is mad or just obsessed in a serious stalker kind of way."

"Hold on." He picked up his office phone and dialed a number. "Brass, are you free?" Grissom paused as Brass answered. "Good. Come by my office. Nick and I need some help."

Grissom hung the phone up. We talked about the case I worked earlier as we waited on Brass to get here. He knocked on the door and let himself in, not even bothering for Grissom to wave him in. "I'm here. What's up?"

"Got a favor to ask of you. Any of your guys got any medical training?"

Brass pulled up a chair and sat next to me. "I'm sure one of them does, why?"

"Anna needs help." I told him about the peanut butter and the note. "Just for a couple shifts. Just need someone to help her out and keep an eye on things. We think whoever is doing this is watching her and seeing her at scenes. They're obsessed and trying to hurt her. Obviously if Anna is working on a patient, she can't concentrate on both the patient and looking out for whoever is doing this to her, so we were wondering if you had someone to go undercover for a couple shifts."

Brass exhaled as he thought. "Brad. Brad Rogers. He's one of the uniforms assigned to this area. I think he was an EMT before he started the cop thing. I can check and let you know. When's Anna's next shift?"

"Tuesday. She's getting off work tomorrow and will go back then and work Tuesday and Wednesday and get off work Thursday for her birthday. She'll be off for hers and mine. I put in a vacation request so we'd both be off."

"Happy early birthday, Nick to both of you." Brass wrote himself a note to remind himself to ask and stuck it in his pocket. "Let me find out if he's going to be free those days and I'll let you know."

"Thanks, man." Brass left and I left shortly after he did to finish up my case so I could go home and see Anna.


	8. Don't Fall Apart

**Chapter 8 – Don't Fall Apart**

"Hey, love." I put my magnifying glass down as I answered the phone. "I'm in the lab just about to finish up."

"Good cause I'm in the reception area. I would have gotten someone to page you, but the receptionist is gone. I'm here as promised."

"Be up there in a minute." I shut my phone and put it in my pocket as I took the lab coat off and headed up front to get Anna. Grissom had asked her to stop by before her shift so she could meet her new undercover cop partner. I turned down the last hallway that led me to the reception area and I saw Anna through the glass. I knocked on the door and she turned around as I reached over the receptionist's desk to hit the button to open the door. "Back to the normal uniform I see." I held the door open and handed her a visitor's badge.

Anna looked down at her shirt as she clipped the badge to it. "Yep. Finally. I like doing the dual role thing. It keeps it interesting, but glad to be back on the truck. I told Bryan to meet us here before shift started. He was leaving his house and had to drop Cody off at the sitter's but I told him to come here before he went to the station." She laughed as she came into the hallway from the reception area. "The driver from last week told the shift captain that he'd rather be demoted than ride with Bryan again. I guess I'm the only one who can work with him. Guess that explains why when I get an engine assignment, he's usually on the engine with me."

"I don't see anything wrong with him, but then again, I'm also not working with him two days at a time, either. Something tells me you keep it interesting."

"We have to." Anna watched the door shut. "The turnover rate is so high in this line of work that if we don't keep it fun, we'll wind up burning out. Average lifespan for a medic is just six years."

"How long have you been doing this?" I started to shut the door when I saw Judy come back. I told Anna to wait on me. "Judy, I'm expecting someone in the next little bit. Overhead me when he gets here."

"Yes, sir."

"Sorry bout that. So how long have you been doing this?" I started to lead Anna back to Grissom's office to wait on Brad and Bryan to get here.

"Oh, poopie." She stopped to think. "Counting the time I was an EMT in college? Thirteen years. Three as an EMT and the rest as a medic. I like the job. It's interesting. Just like yours, you have the deep lows with the high parts too. You just have to take the good with the bad." Anna looked in Grissom's office before we went in. "When's my babysitter supposed to be here? Bryan and I have roll call at 7:30."

"He should be here before then. He said he'd meet us here so you could meet him."

I opened the door to Grissom's office. He turned around holding his newest pet. "Anna, Nick. Come in." He put the spider back in the aquarium and moved his chair around so he could sit down.

Anna saw the spider and went over to the aquarium so she could see it better. "What's the spider's name?" I watched as Anna looked through the glass at the tarantula, obviously not as freaked out about large and hairy spiders as I am. "She's really quite beautiful. Where'd you get her?"

Grissom lifted the top off the tank again and picked up the spider. "I haven't thought of one. Animal control found her at a scene. Owner died and they were going to wind up petting her with the bottom of their shoes, so I took her. Want to hold her?"

"Now that's just cruel and yes, I'd love to hold her. My biology professor in college had one that he named Fluffy."

"Fluffy? Really?" I watched as Anna held her left hand out and Grissom gently dropped the spider on her hand, which sent chills up my spine. "Ugh."

"What? You don't like her?" Anna stared at the spider as it climbed her hand. She put her right hand next to her left hand and the spider climbed from one hand to her other. "Such a gentle touch."

"Far be it for me to argue, but the words 'spider' and 'beautiful' just don't go well in a sentence together. Nothing against her and I'm sure she's a very nice spider and has all sorts of upstanding and redeeming qualities, but she and I do better when there's a glass container between us." I took a step back to put more distance between the spider and me.

I breathed a sigh of relief as Anna handed the spider back to Grissom and he put her safely in the confines of her aquarium. Grissom watched the spider climb under a fake tree branch before remembering we were in the room. When he finally realized we were still here, he turned to face us and had the 'I've Got an Idea' look on his face that he gets from time to time.

"Anna, what's your full name?"

"Meri-Anna Gabrielle Gigandet. I'm named after the first part of my mother's name, Meri, but I go by Anna. Why?"

Grissom shut the lid on the tank. "You just named my spider if you don't mind me using your middle name. I think Gabrielle suits her. The former owner was a DFO before we got there, so I couldn't ask him what he called her and none of the neighbors knew." He looked at the spider. "Gabby for short." He pulled his chair back and sat down. "You know Nick's told us about the peanut butter and the note. Brass and I talked it over and if it's okay with you, we want to put someone undercover with you, just to keep an eye on things. Brass said this guy he wants to use has got EMT training and knows his way around an ambulance, so he won't be a total pain. Just a small pain."

"I'm honored that you named the spider after me." Anna smiled. "My new babysitter having some EMT training does help a little at least. What's his name?"

"Brad Rogers. He'll be here in a bit. I wanted you to meet him before he came to the station. I know you all are like us. When you're working on a scene, your mind is one track. You're focusing on the patients just like we focus on the evidence. If you've got someone who can look out for you, maybe he can focus on what's going on around you and let us know if he sees anyone taking too much of an interest in you."

Anna sighed and looked at me after Grissom got done speaking. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?"

Grissom turned around to look at his spider, "It's your choice, but we'd feel better at least for a little bit. It doesn't have to be forever. Just the next couple shifts." He adjusted the light on the tank before turning around to face the two of us, "You're back on the ambulance aren't you?"

"As far as I know I am. Shift captain brings us all in before our shifts start and we meet to get our assignments, so I don't know for sure but I'm supposed to be. I was told last week after Bryan and I left that we'd be back together this shift on the ambulance. Shift captain mentioned something about court ordered electroshock therapy for the guy who got stuck with Bryan last week. Why?"

"What Gris is trying to say is that it'd be easier to hide someone in an ambulance than it would be if you're on the engine. It doesn't take that much training to stand there and look like you know what you're doing. You could have the undercover hold up a bag or carry stuff to make him blend in. With a fire scene, that'd be more difficult."

"Gotcha." Anna shut her eyes and sighed again. "Fine. I'll do it. He's got EMT training which helps him not stick out like a sore thumb. Just one thing though before I agree to this and meet him."

"What's that? Clearing it with the shift captains? Nick told you I already talked to your shift captain, right and the other ones didn't have a problem with this."

"Yeah, Nick told me but that's not what I meant. We'll have to bring Bryan in on this. The other guys in the station that are on the engine can be told he's a student and that'll pacify them. They won't ask questions, but with Bryan working with me as close as he and I work, he has to know the truth about my new babysitter. He and I are a team and there's no way around it. Bryan would know if this guy is a student because the shift captain always tells both of us what's going on. He and I are both Field Training Officers and when we get someone to ride with us, the shift captain tells both of us. Bryan would know something was up if I was the only FTO that knew about the babysitter riding with us."

Grissom looked at Anna. "Do you trust him?"

"Implicitly. There are two people in this world I trust completely with my life. One is sitting here beside me and the other is Bryan. If Bryan isn't in on this, he starts asking questions, then the engine crew starts asking questions and if they do, it'd be easier to make the babysitter strip down to his birthday suit and reenact that scene from Die Hard where Bruce Willis holds up that sign. Bryan has to know."

"Then I guess we have no choice. We'll tell him when he gets here." Grissom was about to start going over some of the details with Anna when someone knocked on the door. Grissom motioned for him to come in. "Anna, meet your new undercover EMT trainee. Brad Rogers."

"Anna Gigandet. Call me Aggie." Anna stood up and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. So you're the cop, huh?"

"Yeah. I'm the cop and the EMT. I take it you're the one I'm supposed to be watching?"

"Yes. You're my babysitter. You'll meet my partner in just a bit. He's on his way here now. Just fair warning, Bryan's, well, he's…"

"A typical fireman?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders at Brad's response, "Well, you'll see." She sat back down next to me as Brad took the couch on the other side of the office.

A few minutes later, Judy called me over the intercom and I went up front to get Bryan. I took him back to Grissom's office and when I opened the door, Anna was holding her namesake again with Brad right behind her, watching. "Hey, Aggie." She turned around to face Bryan. "What the hell is that?" He eyed the spider crawling on Anna's hand again. "Are you insane?"

"No, I'm not insane and this is a tarantula. She's named after me. Bryan meet Gabby." She looked at Bryan and held her hand up so the spider could see Bryan. "Gabby, this is Bryan." She held the spider out to him and Bryan took a few steps back, with me following his lead. "Bullfrog, you're such a pansy. You go all Crocodile Hunter when you see a snake, but you're scared of a spider?" She handed the spider back to Grissom who put the spider in the tank. "This is who you came to meet. Bryan Brooks, this is Brad Rogers, my new babysitter posing as a student EMT. Brad, this is Bryan, my partner, also known as Bullfrog. Looks like you'll need a nickname too. We all have one and if you're going to fit in with us, you'll need one, too."

"Oh, I've already got one."

Bryan looked at the newest member of their team. "First rule of nicknaming is the subject who needs the nickname will not nickname themselves. What is it?"

Anna scoffed. "I'm sitting here listening and already I've turned to a life of crime."

Bryan rolled his eyes. "What my partner is trying to say is that she knows she could never work another day without me. What's your nickname?"

"Italy. Long story. I've been called that for a while."

Bryan and Brad shook hands after Bryan volunteered happily to come up with a new nickname for the newest member of their team. We went over some details and Bryan and Anna left. Brad said he'd be over in a little bit and would come in looking lost and would ask for the shift captain, under the impression he was one of the students and was assigned to ride with Anna and Bryan for the next couple shifts.

I went home to sleep before my shift started that evening. I stopped by the fire station before I got to the lab and checked on Anna. "Everything's going fine. Bryan gave Brad a nickname." She shook her head. "He's getting old or sentimental or something. The one he gave Brad really isn't all that bad."

"Is this going to be another story along the same lines as how Bryan got his?"

She laughed, "No, this one is not as bad as how Bullfrog came to be. I promise you. One rule we do have is that nicknames are best kept clean enough to be said in all types of company. The stories behind the nickname, well, not so much. The names are kept clean so they can work as a complete replacement for the name that that each of us used to have, also known as the name HR has on file. As you well know, your real name doesn't matter on the bay floor once you get your new name from your brothers. Bryan christened him 'Marshmallow Man.' Brad kind of turned green at a wreck call we answered right after we checked in service this morning, so that's the name Bryan picked out for him."

"Nicer story than how Bryan got the name Bullfrog." I stayed at the station for a little big longer, but eventually I had to leave to head to work. Anna walked me outside and said they had a few calls through the day, but Brad didn't see anything and he took some photos with his camera phone and would be giving the memory card in the phone to us later so we could compare photos to see if someone was at the all of the scenes. After telling her I'd be back later if I could, I headed to the lab.

Grissom and I were assigned to work on a homicide involving a woman who was found dead in the bathroom of her home. We rode together and as we got to the scene, the crowd was already gathering. Remembering what Anna told me last week, I got some crowd shots with my camera as we made our way inside. The fire trucks were already outside and an ambulance was parked near the trucks, but I couldn't tell from where I was standing if it was Anna or not.

"le Damn." I got my first good look inside the house as we walked in. Grissom left me and went to the back of the house with a uniformed officer so he could see where the victim's body was. Whoever this girl was, she had three deadbolt locks on her door along with a chain lock and a bar latch. She had her windows nailed shut from the inside and covered in tin foil. Her whole house was sealed off, keeping the world outside. "Make that triple le damn."

"Hey Nick." Catherine came in, stepping over broken pieces of the front door. "To quote you, 'le damn' is right. Wow." She turned to look at the remains of the door frame. "Looks like the fire department had to batter ram their way in." She got her camera and took some pictures of what was left of the door after the fire department destroyed it to get inside the house.

"Hey guys."

I turned to see Anna coming inside with Bryan and Brad behind her. "Hey. Everything going okay?"

"So far so good. They told me outside you were waiting on us to pronounce?"

Catherine pointed down the hallway. "Gil's already back there."

Bryan handed Brad two of the bags he was carrying. Brad struggled to keep them on his shoulder without dropping the AED bag he had in his right hand. "I'm about to fall over if you keep handing me stuff. Why can't you carry it?"

"I'm the medic. I follow the ALS protocol." He handed Brad a third bag. "This is all you, Marshmallow Man."

Brad looked confused, "ALS? Advanced life support? What's that got to do with me carrying stuff?"

Bryan didn't answer before he headed to the back of the house as Brad continued to look at him as he passed by. "Bryan, you're so wrong for that." Anna hit him on the shoulder as he walked by. Brad was struggling to keep the bags from falling to the ground. Anna stepped in and took one of the bags he was holding to help him out.

"Thanks. What's ALS mean?"

Anna put it across her shoulder as she let Brad pass by her before she followed him to the back of the house. "ALS is short for ain't lifting shiiii…" Anna took the death scene form from me and attached it to the clipboard in her hands. She shifted one of the bags over to her left shoulder and she and Brad went to the back of the house to join Bryan. "Alrighty then. We'll be right back."

I started to help Catherine with the wood chips from the door when I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked up in time to see someone hurrying towards me from the back of the house. Moving out of the way, I watched Brad run outside. I shook my head and went back to gathering the wood chips. I stood up to drop them in an evidence bag and saw Bryan and Anna coming out of the bedroom with Grissom behind them a few minutes later. I looked outside to see where Brad went. "He okay?"

Anna looked at me and smacked Bryan on the shoulder once again as he started to laugh as he walked by us to check on Brad. "You're so wrong." She did her best to hide a smile as she finished filling out the form on her clipboard. "Yeah, he's working out about as well as a cop who is undercover as an EMT can work out." She diverted her attention to Grissom and Bryan as they came back inside. Bryan stayed at the front of the house with Anna while Grissom went to the back of the house again. She looked outside once more and saw Brad leaning against the ambulance. "What a marshmallow." Anna signed the form and handed it to Bryan to sign. Anna looked at Captain Brass who was standing over in the living room, looking through the victim's purse. "Way to pick 'em there, Jim. I've spent the better half of the shift making sure he doesn't hurl everywhere." She looked outside, checking on Brad. "Anyway, we gotta head back and get Brad the Marshmallow Man in the truck and hope he doesn't hurl everywhere. If he does, I'll make y'all clean it up. Scene's all yours." She got the clipboard back from back to me.

As Anna turned to leave, Brass stopped her. "Oh, Anna?"

"Yeah, Captain?" Anna shifted the bag she was holding to her other shoulder as Bryan went outside to check on Brad before they left.

Brass handed the victim's wallet to Catherine. "I just wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

"For what? Marshmallow Man? Please. We all started that way. I hurled for two days straight when I first got hired on. My first call was a bad one. It goes away."

"That's not what I meant, but thanks. I meant I'm sorry for the interrogation the other day at the lab."

Anna looked confused, trying to figure out what he meant. "Oh, that. No biggie. You were doing your job and I can't get mad at you for doing your job. Is all gravy." She turned and left the house, leaving us to process the scene.

Catherine was looking through the woman's wallet that Brass had given her. "Victim's name is Jane Galloway." She handed me the ID and I dropped it in an evidence bag and waited on Catherine to finish looking through her wallet. "One credit card and nothing else. No store cards, no gas cards. No photos. Nothing." She opened another compartment in the wallet. "Looks like checks, but no cash. Robbery maybe? Cash is the easiest to steal and no one looks twice at you if you hand them cash rather than a dead girl's credit card, especially if you're a man." She handed me the wallet and I dropped it in an evidence bag and sealed it.

"Maybe." I looked around. "How'd he get in? He use his transponder and say 'Beam me up, Scotty?' The windows are nailed shut from the inside." I looked over at the door locks on the frame. "Three deadbolts and judging from the damage to the frame, the door was locked from the inside when the evidence eradication crew made entry. Did he have a key to the house? Did our vic let him in?"

"Jim, you find any keys?" He tossed Catherine the purse. "We got receipts, gum and her keys." She held them up. "Looks like these are the keys to the locks on the front door but she could have made copies and given them to family members or maybe a boyfriend or a cleaning lady." She handed me the purse and I put it in another evidence bag as Grissom came out and asked me to come to the back with him. I sealed the evidence bag and gave it to Catherine to sign as I made my way to the back of the house.

"Nick, take photos until the coroner gets here. I'm going outside to get the ALS out of my truck. Be right back."

I walked by Grissom as he went outside and I made my way into the bathroom. Something red was smeared all around the porcelain rim inside the tub. I started to take photos of the smears and turned to look at the girl. She was sitting down with her head resting on her arms like she was in the process of throwing up when the killer attacked her. I started taking photos of her, but something made me stop to look at her again. Her hair was still wet and had fallen across her face. I looked back over at the tub. "le Damn." I took several more shots of the tub and got down on my knees to get shots of her against the toilet. I brushed the hair out of her eyes to get a clear shot of her face, but something stopped me and I stood back up and stared at her. I was trying to think if I knew her from somewhere or if we had been here before. I couldn't figure it out.

"Do you know her?"

"Jesh." I was startled when I heard Grissom's voice behind me. "No."

"Sorry for scaring you. You've been staring at this girl for ten minutes."

"No, I don't know her or at least I don't think I do. Just wondering what happened here. The tub's covered in that red stuff, but it doesn't look like blood. Her hair's wet and it looked like she may have gotten sick in the middle of washing her hair maybe?" I put my camera strap across my right shoulder and took a few steps back to allow David to come in and get the body. "Windows in here are nailed shut, just like the rest of the house." I looked at the windows while David was getting ready to put Jane's body on the stretcher as he got out a body bag. "Not just nailed, but screwed shut. I don't know what her story was, but she was definitely trying to keep someone out of her life." I put my hands on the handles of the window and tried to lift them up. "Not going anywhere." I watched as David got Jane's body off of the floor and put her on the body bag. "Poor girl."

David took her out of the room and I followed him down the hall. I kicked something and looked down. "Dog dish?" I picked it up. "Anyone see a dog?" I brought the ceramic bowl back up front where Catherine was. "Did you see a dog here when you got here?"

"Dog dish, dog food, dog leash, dog bed." Catherine looked around, "No dog. I haven't seen a dog since I got here, but we weren't the first ones here. Engine was when they battered the door in. Need me to call Anna?"

"Yeah, call and ask her if they saw a dog. It could have gotten scared and gotten out when the department battered the door to get in." I put the dog bowl on a table next to the stairs and went back to the bathroom.

"You're right about one thing. It's not blood." Grissom swabbed another sample on the tub and dropped some phenolphthalein on the swab. "No reaction." Grissom dropped the swab in his field kit and reached for his luminol and started to spray the tub and the floor where Jane's body was. "Hit the lights, Nick." I reached behind me and turned the lights off as Grissom began to spray more luminol around the bathtub and across the floor. He put the bottle down and got the ALS out. "Nothing. Non reactive." He sprayed the toilet seat and the toilet tank and brought the light out again. "We have blood on the toilet." He got another swab out and got a sample of the blood before asking me to turn the lights on again. He looked closer at the stains on the tub. "Is this hair dye?" He touched one of the spots. "It's tacky." He got lost in thought a moment. "Do you think she was in the process of coloring her hair when the killer caught her off guard?"

I was playing the scenario in my head that Grissom had given me when Catherine walked in. "Nick, I just got off the phone. I talked to Anna. She said the engine company in the station she's at was the first responder here. Anna and her partners came up right behind the engine crew when we saw them come in, but the engine crew was the first one to make entry when they beat the door in. They didn't mention anything to her about a dog when they got here and Anna, Bryan and Marshmallow Man didn't see one either."

Grissom looked up, "Marshmallow Man? Who's that? What did I miss?"

"Anna's new ride along. His new nickname is Marshmallow Man. She called him that when I called a little bit ago to ask about the dog." Catherine watched Grissom collecting more samples. "Anna did say that said she noticed the dog dish in the floor when they came back here to pronounce, but didn't ever see the dog." Catherine surveyed the bathtub. "Is all that her blood?"

"No. We sprayed it. Non reactive. We think it is hair dye." Grissom handed me the swab he just took so I could give it to Catherine. "It's still tacky and it's not reacting. We did find blood on the toilet seat. Her hair was wet, so maybe she was coloring her hair and the killer surprised her, bashed her head on the toilet and left?"

"Could be." Catherine looked at the tub. "It's all over the tub." She turned her attention to the sink. "Basin on the sink is too shallow. If she was in the process of using hair dye, the logical place would be the tub. It's deeper than the bathroom sink." She stared at the tub again. "Almost looks like he shook her while she had the dye in her hair and the spatter on the tub is from shaking her." She looked over Grissom's shoulder and into the tub. "I'm going to go talk to the neighbors and see if anyone here can tell me what kind of dog Jane had or if one of them saw it out and picked it up after all of this happened. If they don't know anything, I'll call animal control and ask them. I'll let you know."

She left, leaving Grissom and me alone in the bathroom. We finished up there and headed back outside. Catherine stopped us and said that none of the neighbors saw the dog. "Jim said the caller that called 911 lives next door. His kitchen window faces Jane's house and he heard some yelling and then the dog started barking. He called 911, but shortly after that, the dog stopped barking and Jane quit yelling. The killer may have taken the dog with him to shut it up. Unis are checking the trash cans around back looking for the dog's body. Neighbor said it was a small terrier mix."

"Thanks Cath." Grissom said he was going back to the lab to start processing. He left once again after telling Catherine and me to process the outside for footprints and evidence. He left us alone so Catherine and I could finish processing the outside of Jane's house.

We finally cleared it a few hours later and got ready to take what we had collected back to the lab. "Crime Stopper, you can ride with me since I know you rode up here with Grissom."

I groaned. Catherine was bringing up the newsletter I was in. The department wanted to thank me for a job well done on a past case and did an employee spotlight. Ever since then, the team had been digging at me any chance they got. "I'm not gonna live that one down am I?"

Catherine shook her head. "Not likely." She put a bin in the back seat of her truck and threw her field kit in next to it and shut the door. I got in the passenger's side as she got in the driver's side and started the truck. "You know, now that you're a celebrity and all, you might want to think about a new shirt. Take Anna with you. She's got good tastes. Let her pick you out something."

"Yeah, I'm kind of short on options right now." I reached behind me to fasten my seat belt as Catherine backed her Tahoe out of the driveway. "Dry cleaners keep losing our stuff. Anna's down to one uniform shirt and I'm fast running out of clothes. Anna quit using them after the Audrey Malone case."

By the time we got to the lab, Grissom had already started in on the red dye from the bathroom and told me to drop off the swabs we had collected with trace and if Catherine and I wanted to go grab lunch, we could leave before we got started with everything else. I sent Anna a text asking if she was up before I stopped in trace to drop off the evidence we collected. I was signing the evidence log in sheet when I felt the phone buzz in my pocket. I finished with the form and pulled my phone out of my pocket and read the text telling me that she was up. I told Grissom I was going to see Anna and I'd be back in just a bit.

When I got to the station, one of the firefighters was outside talking on his phone. He told me the door was already open. "Aggie's in the common area playing Doom with Bullfrog and Marshmallow Man. They just got back from a call. She saved a cat earlier. Go on in."

"A cat?" I went inside to find Anna. "I'll ask her. Thanks."

Anna heard me come in and gave her controller to Brad. "Hey." She kissed me. "Clear that homicide earlier?"

"Yeah, but something's not adding up. Poor girl was scared of something. Did you see her windows? Not just nailed shut, but screwed and nailed shut. She wanted to keep someone out pretty badly."

"I saw when we got there after engine crew bashed the door in. She was desperate to keep someone away from her." Anna turned her attention to the game on TV. "The alien! Behind the rocks!"

Brad saw the alien and shot it. "You're mine!"

"Y'all need new hobbies." I shook my head and laughed as Brad and Bryan went back to the game. "Fireman outside said you saved a cat?"

Anna smiled. "Yeah, the last call we had was a fire call. We made the scene for mutual aid and when we got there, we saw this little girl and she was crying while her mother and father tried to console her. I didn't really know what was going on until I stopped one of the guys on the engine crew. I asked him what was going on and they said they found the little girl's cat dead inside. They brought the cat outside to give to the parents so they could bury it and the little girl saw her cat and freaked. I was talking to Marshmallow about something when she saw me and came up to me and asked if I was one of those people like on TV that save lives." Bryan started laughing, interrupting Anna's story. "Goof, I am not going to tell a child our motto is 'We save lives, dammit!'" Anna shook her head. "This is what I have to work with. See?" She threw a potato chip at Bryan. "Anyway, I said I was a medic and asked if she was hurt. She said no and started crying. The mother told me they were trying to get her to understand what happened to cat, but the little girl wanted someone to try to save it. Seeing as how I'm an animal lover myself, I told the parents I'd try telling her what happened. I said I'd work on the cat for a minute and tell the little girl he died. So I took the cat to the truck and the little girl got in with me to watch. I didn't really know what to do, but I got the oxygen out and tried to revive the cat and butter my butt and call me a biscuit, it worked. The cat lived. Next thing I know, the little girl is freaking out and her parents rush over and see her holding the cat like a baby in the back of the ambulance. I told her she could be my special helper and gave her the oxygen mask to hold up to the cat's face."

"Now that's a news story. I bet that little girl was happy."

"Behind the tree! Kill it! Kill it!" Anna got excited and shook Brad's shoulders to get his attention so he could kill another alien. "Yeah, she was ecstatic I saved her cat. The mother came over and thanked me profusely right before we got ready to leave and I just told her I was doing my job. Call me Dr. Doolittle now I guess." Anna watched as more aliens got blown up on the screen. "Newspaper guy came over and got a picture of me with the little girl and the cat. I thought it was really sweet actually and he didn't have to put my picture in the paper, but he said he was going to since it was 'a human interest story' I think was how he worded it. He said it'd be in tomorrow's edition. Guess I'll need to buy a paper."

"I'll get you one when they come out later on." I watched Brad and Bryan who were still killing aliens. "Anything else happen?"

"No, not that…oh wait." Anna looked at me. "I am missing the red scene tag for my helmet. I went to pull it out of my locker earlier when we made that call and the blue one was attached, but the red one was nowhere to be found."

"Think you left it at the apartment?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe. I know I had it before shift started but I don't know. Maybe it just fell off. I'll look when I get home after while. Just strange the blue one was there but the red one was gone."

"It'll turn up. Brad, you see anything?"

"No." He went back to blasting aliens. "I just emailed you the photos from my phone. Aggie gave me your email address."

"I'll check now." Realizing I didn't have my laptop with me to check, I asked Anna for hers.

"It's in the shift captain's office, charging. Come on." Anna held out her hand as she led me towards the administrative offices that were on the southern side of the station.

I looked around the office and happened to see a board with radio numbers on it and different magnets lined up behind each number. "What's the chart for?"

Anna was unplugging the power cord from the laptop but looked up at me. "Oh, that's our bragging board." She got the laptop unplugged and put it back in the case. "The radio numbers for us are all different. Each shift has one radio number assigned to them and no one else uses that number. The little symbols next to the numbers are our accomplishments. In this case, next to Engine 11 is what they've ran over in the truck." She pointed to one. "According to this, they've ran over two dumpsters and a light pole." She looked down the board. "Here is ours, Medic 78. They do the same thing on the engines for us as far as mowing down stuff, but we also get these." She pointed to some unused magnets at the bottom of the board. "A red heart with a thumbs up was a code save, a busted up cartoon character was a trauma save. The sleeping baby in a blanket is for a delivery and the rest of them are pretty self explanatory. Fire crews get those, too. Bryan and I haven't managed to mow down a mailbox this month but there's still time. The month isn't over with yet." She looked up at the board again before we left. "Oh, and that one." She pointed to a trophy on another station's section of the board. "That's the Doom trophy. They're winning right now." She handed me the laptop. "We've got wifi. Just turn it on. It'll connect."

Anna and I went back up front and sat on the couch and watched Bryan and Brad still killing aliens on Doom while the computer started up. "Do you guys play anything else other than Doom?"

Bryan shook his head, "Not normally, no. When the other stations we play against are on calls, we usually play something else or do something productive like write reports or clean up, but for the most part, when it's late at night like this, Doom it is." He turned his attention back to the game. "Bonsai!" His player just took out an alien causing it to explode on the screen. "Take that Station 12! Prepare to surrender to the powers of The Frog!"

"The Frog? It's almost like I work with orangutans." Anna said she'd be right back and headed to the kitchen to get a drink.

The familiar computer voice welcomed me as the computer finished starting up. I clicked on the internet link and signed on to my email account and as soon as I did, the computer announced I had email. I clicked on the icon and over 40 emails were waiting for me to read. I scanned through the senders' names and skipping over most of them until I found the one Brad sent me. I opened the email and glanced at some of the images. "Thanks, Brad. I'll look at these closer later on in the lab and let you know if I find anything." Anna came back, Mountain Dew in hand and took the seat next to me. I heard her cheering on Bryan and Brad as another alien met his destiny on the TV screen. I shook my head and laughed and turned back to the emails. I started deleting the spam emails. I got rid of those and started looking over the other emails. One of them caught my eye. "Wow. There's a blast from the past." I clicked on the email and saw it was a friend from school I haven't heard from in years. She sent a note telling me she was married with kids now and lived in Maine and hoped I was okay and attached some photos from prom. As I scanned through them, I got a good laugh at the fashions back in the day.

"What's so funny?" Anna leaned over to see the computer screen better. "Photos?"

"Yeah, from high school. Wow." I looked at a couple more as Anna rested her chin on my shoulder. "Friend of mine from high school sent these. I haven't heard from her in years. Wow. Note said she was cleaning out the attic and found these and scanned them, hoping I'd get a good laugh at days gone by."

Anna put her fingers on the track pad and started to scroll through the pictures as I watched Bryan and Brad still fighting enemy aliens on the TV. "These are priceless." She scanned through the collage of bad tuxedos, bad prom dresses and even worse hairstyles from days gone by. Towards the end of the pictures in the email were pictures from a post prom party. "This was your date?" She pointed to a picture of me and a girl in a sequined prom dress.

"Yep. Tracy something or another. Don't remember her last name. This was the only time we went out."

The department phone rang. "Far be it for me to stop the two of you from saving the world from terrorist aliens." She put her drink on the table and got up to answer it. "Station 11, Gigandet." I watched her for a minute as she spoke to the caller. "It's Tessa from station 12. She sounds pissed."

Bryan flipped Anna off. "Tell her I said that."

"Bonsai!"

I looked over at the TV to see what Brad was yelling at. He and Bryan were giving each other high fives at what was apparently an important kill in the game. I started to scroll through the rest of the pictures. Anna hung up the phone and came to sit by me again. "Station 12 says they're gonna get even with us for that kill y'all just made."

While she watched her partner and Brad shoot aliens, the final picture came on computer screen. I froze. "What?" I clicked on the picture so I could zoom in on it. "How?"

Anna looked at me. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

I turned the screen to where she could see it. "Look familiar?"

She picked up the computer and stared at the picture. "Jane Galloway." Anna zoomed in on the picture. "She's in the same pose as Jane Galloway."

Bryan heard us and paused the game and turned around. "Who's Jane Galloway?"

"That girl that died sitting at her toilet."

"Oh, the scene where Marshmallow Man lost his lunch again at." Bryan shoved Brad who flipped him off.

"Shut up, both of you." Anna handed the computer back to me so I could turn it around to show the two of them. "Look. It's the same. She's wearing the same shirt and posed the same way."

Bryan took the computer from me and looked at it. "Damn, CSI Man. This has gone beyond coincidence and has now moved into creepy stalker territory."

Bryan gave the laptop to Brad. I asked if he saw anything. He shook his head. "In between trying to keep my dinner down after we left that scene and that wreck we had earlier, no. I took the crowd shots and emailed them to you hoping you'd be able to find something, but I didn't see anyone paying more attention to Aggie than normal. People are going to watch us of course, but I didn't see anyone watching her close enough to raise suspicion." Brad handed the laptop back to me after he looked at the picture. "I'm with Bullfrog. This is just creepy stalker territory. Looks like I need to be shadowing you and not Aggie."

I shut the laptop off and said goodbye to Bryan and Brad. "I'm going back to the lab to talk to Grissom about this. Does anyone have access to these laptops other than you?"

Anna shook her head, "Just us and the shift captain but this is the first time you've logged in to your email using our laptop. Could someone have hacked in? Did you forget to log off at the lab or something? Library? Anywhere?"

"I don't think so. Most of the time, I use my laptop at home. I haven't stepped foot in this library here in town in ages and I know I log off at work after I get done or one of the lab rats would play a prank on me and sign me up for a bunch crap." I kissed Anna and hugged her. "Talk to the two of them and tell them not to say anything. I'm going to talk to Grissom and tell him about the email and the pictures." I kissed her again. "And please, keep your eyes open and let me know if you see anything." I looked down to check the time, "Happy Birthday, Anna."

She brought her watch up to look at it, "It is my birthday." Anna kissed me and told me to go talk to Grissom and let me know what I found out. "I'll see you in a little bit. Hoping that since today's my birthday, the relief crew will come in early or I'll be told I can leave early so Bryan and I can get out of here for our birthdays. Relief crew is pretty good about coming in on birthdays so the birthday employee can split. I still want to know what my surprise is."

"You'll find out later, I promise." I left Anna at the station and went back to the lab.

Grissom wasn't in his office. I was headed to the evidence lockers when Warrick stopped me. I was so wrapped up in what happened that I didn't hear him call me. He had to call me a second time before I turned around, "Sorry, my mind's not all here."

"When is it ever?" Warrick smiled, "Yeah. If I had Anna waiting on me, I'd be off in left field too. How's she doing?"

"She's fine. Today's her birthday and she gets off work in a little bit, but that's not why I'm so weirded out."

"Then what is it?"

I pulled Warrick into an empty office, "You know that case Grissom and I worked earlier about the girl that was dead on the toilet?"

"Yeah, Grissom's down in autopsy with Cath and Doc Robbins. They're just wrapping up the post. Why?"

I told Warrick about Brad sending me the pictures from the scenes Anna was at earlier, "I look through those and start deleting spam and I see an email from a high school classmate of mine. In the email are some pictures and well, see for yourself." I took a seat at the computer and logged back into my email account and pulled up the pictures. "Look."

"Drunk at a prom. So what?" He clicked on the picture to zoom in, "More like toasted at prom, but who didn't get drunk at prom?"

I closed the email window and brought up the internal page we use at work to access case files. I typed in the case name and brought up the pictures I took earlier. I clicked on the picture I took of Jane Galloway on the toilet and brought up the email picture of the drunken girl from prom. "See any resemblance?"

Warrick motioned for me to get up out of the chair. I moved and he sat down and looked at the pictures for a bit longer before he got up again, "They're identical. The bodies are virtually the same position in both pictures. Jane Galloway's hair is even the same color as prom girl's. She's wearing the same shirt as Jane, too." He moved out of the way so I could sit down and log back off. Before I did, I changed my password on my email account a second time and signed off. "Change your password and let Grissom know. What about the sender?"

"My classmate? She lives in Maine or something. What'd she do? Fly in for murder and go back home to her husband and kids? I just changed my password second time and I plan on letting him know as soon as I can find him."

"Keep me updated, and if I don't see you later, happy birthday tomorrow and tell Anna happy birthday today."

"Thanks, Rick." He left and I stayed where I was, staring at the computer screen until the screen saver came on.

"Nick? What are you doing here?" I looked over as Grissom checked his watch. "Isn't it Anna's birthday?"

"It is, but I'm glad you're here. I need to talk to you about something. Shut the door." Grissom stepped in and shut the door. I started to explain to him about what happened earlier at the house with Brad getting sick and taking photos while he was outside. "I go check on Anna and he says he emailed the pictures to me already, so I use Anna's laptop from the ambulance to check to make sure they're there. They are and as I'm looking through the emails in my inbox, I see one from a high school classmate of mine. She's married now and has kids and is living in Maine or something, but when I open the attachments, I see this." I turn around to face the computer and log back into my email account. "This reminds you of Jane Galloway, doesn't it?"

Grissom looked at the picture in my email inbox of the prom party. "It's uncanny. Her hair is the same shade. Her body is in the same position. She's even wearing the same shirt." He printed off the picture and looked at it once the printer got done. "Doc Robbins said the girl wasn't a natural redhead. She was a blonde. Maybe it could be explained she was changing her hair color to fool someone she was trying to keep out of her life, but this picture from your prom party…" He faded off as he looked at the picture. "We need to let Brass know." Grissom stood up. "Go home, Nicky. Tell Anna happy birthday from me and we'll let you know about this later on. Enjoy your day today and if I don't see you tomorrow, happy birthday."

"Thanks." I turned my attention back to the computer screen just as the screen saver came on again. I moved the mouse and signed off my email after changing my password a second time. After the screen saver came back on, I got up to leave after getting a text from Anna saying she was off work and headed to my apartment. I sent her one back saying I'd be there in a minute after I changed.

Leaving the lab and getting in my truck, the pictures of Jane Galloway and the prom party kept flashing through my mind. I tried to get rid of the images, but I failed miserably as I drove home to see Anna, hoping once I got home, she'd help me get rid of them or at least help me find a way to make sense of everything.


	9. Let Me Sign

**A/N: I have to insert a slight mush warning for this chapter. If you don't want to read the mushy parts, skip down to about halfway through the chapter when the funny parts come in. I tried writing this chapter without the mush at the beginning but the upcoming chapters won't make sense. I also tried jumping from the last chapter into the chapter that is now chapter 10, but it didn't make sense. I read chapter 8 then went straight into what is now chapter 10 and even I'm scratching my head going "Huh?" and I'm the one that wrote the story. Some of the little small details in the upcoming chapters will be tied to parts of this chapter. You have been warned and I did my best to not make it too mushy. Just hope I don't alienate any of my readers with this chapter. I do try to keep the mush to a minimum in this story, but I had to do this in order for the upcoming chapters to make sense.**

**I've been asked a few times about the meaning behind 'le damn.' I took French classes years ago in high school. Our teacher made us speak in French during the class no matter what. One of my classmates blurted out "damn!" after he whacked his knee against the desk. When the French teacher heard him, she told him to say it in French. He was always a sarcastic smart ass so he said 'le Damn!' and the phrase was born. I still use it to this day even though I haven't been in school in over twelve years.**

**Chapter 9 – Let Me Sign**

"Anna?" I opened the door and pulled my key out of the lock. I didn't see her, but I heard music and knew she was probably at the back of the apartment. I set my keys and the newspaper I got for her this morning on the counter and shut the door and followed the sound back to where she was. I stopped at the end of the hallway and watched as Anna was lost in the music again while she was folding towels.

" _But something happened for the very first time with you. My heart melted to the ground, found something true and everyone's looking 'round, thinking I'm going crazy…_ " Anna folded the towel as she started on the next part of the song. _'But I don't care what they say, I'm in love with you. They try to pull me away but they don't know the truth…_ '

I managed to sneak up on her when she reached in the dryer for another towel and got my arms around her waist from behind. "What? No MMMBop?" I kissed the back of her neck.

"You have got to quit sneaking up on me like that." Anna put the towel back in the dryer and turned around to face me. "No MMMBop. Gotta keep it fresh. I'll do MMMBop another time for you." She reached over and turned the music off and kissed me as she shut the dryer door with her foot.

"Happy birthday." I took her by the hand and led her back up front. I picked up the newspaper that I got for her. "Here's the newspaper from this morning as promised. You made the local section. Can I get an autograph before you become too famous and forget about the little people who got you where you are today?"

"I wouldn't be able to forget about you, but I never did get one from you, Crime Stopper. Where did that newsletter go anyway? I was gonna send it to your parents but now I can't find it."

I groaned. "Bad enough everyone at work still calls me Crime Stopper but now you too? I hope the I Need it Gnomes who live in our closet took it because they know you needed it and hid it and it'll never resurface again. I'm ready for that to be over with. I'm still being called Crime Stopper at work."

"They're just jealous of your fame. Now we can both be famous." Anna laughed as I handed the paper to her. I watched as she got out the section to see what her picture was. The photograph in the paper was of her kneeling next to the little girl from the fire call yesterday. Anna's right arm was on the little girl's shoulders and the little girl had her left arm on Anna's shoulders as the little girl held her cat. "Now that's cute. I need to get that framed and send it to my sister. She says my job doesn't matter. Thank you."

"Your job does matter. Just ask that little girl." I left Anna where she was. "Part one of your surprise is coming up. Stay here."

"Before you leave, toss me my 'Berry. I need to call Bryan and tell him happy birthday. His is today, too. I didn't get a chance to tell him before we left work earlier."

I got Anna's phone out of her bag and handed it to her. She told me to take her bag back to our room. I picked it up as I left Anna as she called Bryan while I went back to our room and reached for one of my winter coats. I pulled it out enough to reach in and got out a small box I had put in one of the outside pockets. I knew she wouldn't look in there since it was mid May and well beyond winter coat weather. I reached for the pocket that was on the inside of the coat and got the card out. I dropped my work vest on the bed and took my shoes off and went back up front. Anna was leaving Bryan a voice mail when I sat down on the carpet in front of her and handed her the box. "Open this first."

Anna put her phone down and took the green Tiffany box from me and looked up at me as she used her fingernails to tear the tape on the side of the box. She took the top off of it and handed it to me as she picked up the necklace inside the box. "Oh, Nick." She held the chain out as the silver open heart pendant fell to the bottom of it. "I love it. Love it. This is so me. So perfect." Holding the necklace in one hand, she put her other hand behind my neck and pulled me to her to kiss me. "Thank you."

Anna started to undo the clasp, but I stopped her. "Allow me, my lady." She pulled her hair back using her hands as I put the necklace around her neck and fastened the clasp. "Happy Birthday, Anna." I kissed her again. "Now, read this." I handed her the card. She opened the card and started to read my message. " _You've had my heart since the first day I met you and you've had it every day since then. I hope now that when you wear this, you're reminded every day how much I love you. You're my everything and I love you and always will. Happy Birthday, Anna."_ Anna looked up as a lone tear fell down her cheek and onto my hand as I brushed it off of her cheek and kissed her. I stayed close enough to Anna so she could hear me whisper what I wanted to tell her. "I love you, Anna. You don't know how long I've waited for you."

More tears fell down Anna's cheeks as she closed the short distance between us to kiss me, knocking me over from where I was sitting. She put her hand on the carpet next to me so she could push herself up to see me. She kissed me again. "I have a pretty good idea it's been as long as I've waited for you and to think, I wasn't even sure if I wanted to move to Vegas." Anna kissed me again. "I love you, too Nicky." Her hand reached up to touch the necklace as it dangled from her neck. "Thank you for making this one of the best birthdays I have ever had."

Anna leaned in to kiss me again as I tried to sit up. I managed to get on the couch with Anna still in my lap and her legs wrapped around my waist and her arms around my neck. I pulled away from her just enough to see her face, which was still close to mine. "Anna?"

I didn't even have to finish my sentence. She knew what I was trying to ask her. She whispered yes to me and I picked her up and still kissing her, took her to our bedroom. She took her uniform shirt and her shorts off and pulled me on top of her. Anna kissed me while she helped me take off my shirt. I put my arms around her middle and pulled her up on her knees. Keeping one hand on her back, my other hand took my pants off as we fell back down in the bed and made love for the first time.

Anna was on her side with her arm across my stomach afterwards. She reached across me and kissed me as she sat up and wrapped the sheet across her chest. "When do you want yours from me? Tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's fine." I reached behind her and pulled a box of the night stand. "Here."

"What's this?"

"The second part of your surprise." I handed her the box.

She took the box from me and she unwrapped it. "Oooh, Nick." She flipped it over to see the front artwork of the CD case. "Celtic Woman. Their new CD. I've been trying to find this. Thank you."

"That's not the whole surprise. Open the case."

"It's a CD. I've seen one before." Anna looked puzzled, but did as I told her. Two tickets fell out of the case and into her lap. "Ohmigawd!" She looked at the tickets. "How did you get these? Cathy and I have wanted to get tickets ever since they came on sale, but they were sold out." She reached over and hugged me, knocking me off balance again as I fell on my back with Anna on top of me hugging me. "Thank you!" She kissed me again. "This is official. This is the best birthday…" Anna stopped to kiss me again. "Ever." Another kiss. "Thank you."

"I have my sources and you're welcome." I got up out of bed and took Anna by the hand. We got in the shower together and while she was getting dressed, I made her favorite breakfast for her. She was still in the bathroom, blow drying her hair when she saw me in the mirror. "Your breakfast is almost ready, my lady." I took her hand and brought her back up front and told her to have a seat at the table as I brought her orange juice out to her, followed by a stack of blueberry pancakes and a bottle of pure maple syrup. "Your breakfast is served." I kissed the back of her neck as I put the plate down in front of her.

"Thank you, Nicky." Anna took a bite. "Ohmigawd, you're making these for me more often." She reached over to get the syrup bottle I brought out earlier and drowned the remaining pancakes in syrup. "These are so good. Need more syrup though."

"Just make sure you leave me some syrup." Anna was drowning her pancakes in even more syrup. "I think they're dead, honey." She continued to pour. "You've drowned them enough. Any more syrup on them is just cruel torture." She finally put the bottle down. I sat down next to her as we finished up breakfast.

I told her about what Grissom had told me and she told me Brad had some more pictures for me. "I told him to hold off on emailing them to you. He said he'd give me his memory card later on."

"That's fine. Enough about work. Now what?" I looked at my watch again. "le Damn." I shook it. "It stopped again."

"You and that watch are about to drive me crazy." Anna shook her head and got up. "Wait here." She disappeared and came back in the living room a minute later, holding her LVFD bag that she took to work by the straps. After searching for whatever it was Anna was looking for, she found a box that was wrapped in bright pink Strawberry Shortcake wrapping paper before she dropped the bag on the floor next to where she was sitting. "Happy early birthday, Nicky."

"Strawberry Shortcake?" I couldn't help but stare at the bright pink wrapping paper. "My sisters went through a phase when they were younger where they were all absolutely nuts over Strawberry Shortcake."

"I did, too. I think all girls liked her at one point in time and sorry about the pink paper. It's all we had at work and I couldn't ever get free to stop and get more. It was either this or run report forms, besides it's what's inside that counts." She handed me the box. "I know you said tomorrow, but I think you can use this now."

I took the frilly pink paper off and opened the box. "Anna." I pulled the watch out of the box and put it on. "Now it's my turn to thank you." I leaned in closer to her to kiss her as I pulled her in my lap. "Thank you." I got a closer look at the watch on my wrist as she sat down. "This is like yours?"

She reached over the table and stabbed a piece of her drowned pancakes with her fork and ate it. "Yours is the men's version of the one I wear and the best part is that it's kinetic. Never needs a battery. Now when I ask you what time it is, you can actually tell me rather than complain your watch battery died. Again."

"A day early, but thank you." I brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. "Thank you. This has been the best birthday I've had and it's all thanks to you." I kissed her again. "Thank you."

The show at the Bellagio didn't start until 7 so we spent the rest of the day at my apartment. After breakfast, we both wound up falling asleep as we watched a movie. Anna woke up first and finished the movie while she let me sleep. After she woke me up, we showered again. Anna shoved me out of the room while she finished getting ready telling me she didn't want me to see her in the dress she bought until she was finished. I went up to the kitchen to fix myself a drink while I waited on her. I heard her come up behind me and I set the glass down on the counter and turned around. Anna was wearing a strapless black and white sun dress that stopped just above her knees. She had pulled her hair up in a twist behind her head and used jeweled hair pins to hold it in place. "Wow." She smiled and turned around, giving me a full view. "Mind if we stay here tonight? I'm not sure I want to take you out looking like that. Someone else might take you."

"That won't happen. I belong with you. Figured since we were going out, might as well dress the part since you rarely get to see me looking like this and you're looking pretty hot yourself."

Anna finally took me shopping for some new shirts and I was wearing one of the ones she picked out with a pair of khaki pants. "Thank you. You should like it considering this is one of the shirts you picked out for me."

Anna slipped one of her shoes on and smiled. "I like you wearing anything though." I watched as she braced herself against the kitchen cabinets as she put her other shoe on and stood up, looking proud about something. "See! With both of them, I'm somewhat taller." She reached up to kiss me. "I don't have to stand on my tip toes as much to reach you."

"You're perfect just as you are." Anna put on her earrings as I continued to stare at her. "Too bad you can't wear that to work. I'd trip and injure myself over another flower pot if that meant you got to treat me again."

Anna laughed. "I'd never last two hours at work in these heels and you know I'd treat you again. Gladly." She bent down to fasten the straps on the back of her shoes. "That day was one of the best I've had in quite some time. I finally got to meet you after watching you for so long. I was seriously contemplating paying someone to shove you down a flight of stairs or just doing it myself so I could meet you."

"It would have been worth it." I hugged her as my senses were overloaded by the signature vanilla scent that was unmistakably Anna's. "Just to be treated by you, I'd trip over a thousand flower pots again." I kissed her. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

We went outside and it was then I realized my truck was at the lab. "Crap." I turned to face her. "My truck's at work."

"I know. That's why I figured you'd need these." Anna handed me the keys to her truck. "Want to drive?"

I took the keys from her and helped her in before I got in. We got to the Bellagio about thirty minutes before the show started. I gave the keys to Anna's truck along with a tip to the valet as another attendant opened the door so we could go in. I couldn't help but smile to myself as he watched Anna with a little too much enthusiasm as we walked in. "I shouldn't have let you out of the house wearing that."

She turned around to look at me. "What?"

"The door guy over there. I think his eyes just fell out."

"He'll be strong." Anna took my hand and I led her back to the theater where the concert was.

I handed our tickets to the attendant and she tore off the side she needed and handed them back to me and pointed us in the right direction of where our seats were. I led Anna down the steps and stopped at a section of the orchestra seats that were on the first level off to one side of the theater stage. "Ohmigawd." Anna looked at me and then sat down, looking at the stage. "I don't know how you did this, but thank you." She leaned over to kiss me again. "Thank you."

The lights in the theater dimmed and the concert started. I couldn't figure out what was a better show. The women on stage put on a great show but Anna's delight in being able to be here was just as good.

The concert ended about three hours later and after two standing ovations from the crowd, the group made their way off stage and the lights came back on. I stood up and taking Anna's hand in mine, we got ready to go back up front to get her truck and head back home. "Thank you, Nick. This was amazing." She kissed me again. "The whole day has been amazing. All of it."

I checked my new watch and told her it was almost time for the last water fountain show of the day up at the pool in front of the hotel. I took her up to the front of the hotel and found a spot by the railings that surrounded the pool. Anna leaned against the railings surrounding the pool as I stood behind her, pinning her between me and the railings. She leaned her head back on me as the water show started and took one of my hands in hers and brought her arm across her stomach, still holding onto my hand. We watched the choreographed show for about half an hour until I heard someone call my name out behind us. I turned around and Greg and Warrick were standing off to one side of the pool with Catherine as they watched the show.

Anna led me over to where they were, never letting go of my hand. "Hey everyone."

As we got closer, I noticed Greg was staring hard at Anna. "Greg, put your eyes back in your head before I intervene in an illegal manner." Greg continued to stare. "With blunt force trauma or by using an electric nail gun. Pick your poison."

"Uh, sorry. Just not used to seeing you like this." He shook his head and exhaled sharply. "Happy birthday, Anna. Oh, and you too, Nick."

It sounded like it was almost as an after thought that he remembered my birthday was the next day. "Gee. Thanks. Glad I matter so much, Greg. Mighty appreciative. What are y'all doing here? Aren't you supposed to be at work?"

Catherine shook her head. "Well, we were but it's slow. Grissom and Sara got a robbery case, but that's the only case for tonight. It was so slow tonight and all our work in the lab is caught up so Grissom and Ecklie let us and a few of the lab rats go, but told us to keep our pagers on in case something came up. We just got done at the buffet here and were about to head across the street for karaoke when the water fountain show started. I wanted to see it again, so I made these two stay with me. Join us."

I looked at Anna who shrugged her shoulders. "Fine. We'll join you, but I'm not singing."

Greg pushed me as we started to walk towards the karaoke bar. "The heck you're not. I've got just the song for you, my friend." He looked at Anna. "I hear you've got quite the voice. Duet?"

She laughed, "We'll see. What's the song you want Nicky to sing?"

"It's a surprise. I'm actually going to pick songs for everyone to sing." Greg took Anna's hand and Catherine's hand and took it upon himself to lead the two of them across the street as Warrick and I followed. He let go of their hands while he got us a table once we got inside the building.

Anna moved back by me and stood next to me as we waited. The door opened and someone else needed by, so I took a step to the side and pulled Anna with me. She wasn't paying attention and stumbled a little bit, but I caught her. "Sorry about that, someone needed in."

Greg brought the waitress back and we got a table on the opposite end of the entrance to the bar. I ordered a beer and Anna ordered a mojito. The waitress took orders from the rest of the table and went to go fix drinks.

"So, Nick. You want to go first, or what?" Catherine looked at Greg. "I know he wants you to sing, so you have to. It's your birthday." She checked her watch. "Or it will be before too much longer."

"I told you, Cath, I am not singing." The waitress brought our drinks back and set them on the table. I took a drink of mine. "Period. Anna's welcome to sing if she wants to, but I am not." I put the bottle down on the table. "No singing."

"Me either." Warrick looked at Greg. "You do it to either of us Sanders and you die. Nick'll help me kill you if you force either of us to sing."

"Spoil sport. Both of you." Anna nudged me. "Sing. I will if you will."

Greg didn't even give me a chance to answer. "Then it's settled. I'll go first and I'll sign everyone else up while I'm there and give the DJ the songs I want you to sing. Neither of you are not getting out of this." Greg took the song book off of the table and started to flip through the pages. He stopped on one. "Perfect for me. I've already got songs in mind for everyone else." He closed the book. "Be right back."

Greg got up and made his way to the stage and after telling the DJ what to play for his song and giving the DJ the rest of our song selections, the sounds of Right Said Fred's "I'm Too Sexy" started up, sending all of us at the table into a fit of laughter.

Catherine put her Sprite down, stood up and whistled. "Just like Greg."

We watched as Greg started singing the song. _'I'm too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts.'_ Greg took off the button down shirt he had on, leaving him in the white t-shirt he had on and tossed the shirt on the stage and continued to sing. ' _I'm a model you know what I mean and I do my little turn on the catwalk. Yeah, on the catwalk, on the catwalk, yeah. I do my little turn on the catwalk.'_ Greg put the microphone back on the stand so he could strut his stuff across the stage. He got the microphone off the stand and started in on the next part of the song. I looked over at Warrick who had tears coming out of his eyes from laughing so hard. Catherine and Anna stood up to cheer at Greg. The song finished and he got a standing ovation from the audience as he picked his shirt up and made his way back to where we were. Warrick gave him a high five as Catherine hugged him from behind. "So I take it that was a win, huh?"

"Win?" Anna put her drink down. "Not just a win, but an epic win." She shook his hand from across the table. "Monumental epic win. Nicely done, Greg."

Greg stood back up and bowed for all of us and sat down again. "I've already told the DJ everyone's song. Nick, I picked out something special for you. You'll love it. Every time I hear it, I think of you. Oh, and Warrick you're going to love what I picked out for you. According to what the DJ said, Anna, you're next."

Anna stood up. "Yay!" She kissed me before making her way through the crowds and up to the stage. Anna stopped at the DJ's booth so he could tell her the song that he was about to put on for her. I saw her as she looked back at our table and laughed. She got the microphone off of the stand before turning to face the crowd. "This one goes out to someone very special. Happy birthday, Nicky."

I started laughing again when I realized that Greg had picked out MMMBop for her. "Nice one, Greg-o. You do have a death wish, don't you?"

"No, I don't. This is all in fun Nick. Relax!" He turned his attention back to Anna on the stage.

She stopped after the first verse and the chorus ended. While she was waiting on the next part of the song to start, Anna pointed to our table and waved. _"Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose. You can plant any one of those. Keep planting to find out which one grows. It's a secret no one knows. It's a secret no one knows."_

I got the in joke she was trying to tell me from across the room, but had to explain to everyone else at the table that the verse she just sang was the verse she was singing when I walked in on her singing MMMBop before. Anna did pretty well on stage. I could tell she was having fun and that's all that mattered. She kept laughing during the last part of the song and missed some of the words. As the song wound down, the crowd gave her a standing ovation. She curtsied and handed the DJ back his microphone as he helped her off stage. He said something to her which made her laugh. Anna made her way back to our table. "What'd y'all think?" Something caught Anna's attention as she looked over at the bar while she waited on me to get up so she could sit down. "He's staring at me." I turned to see who she was talking about, but I didn't see anything. Anna moved in closer to me as I put my arm across her shoulders. "Did Nick explain the in joke?"

"Yeah he explained it to us. My only regret is that I wish I could have seen that performance before now. That's why I picked the song I did." I kicked Greg under the table again. "This is becoming a pattern with you isn't it?" He reached under the table to rub the sore spot on his shin. "I need shin guards."

"I'm the only one that gets to see Anna sing MMMBop at my house. You're on your own on that one."

Another couple of singers got on stage after Anna was finished. Greg told Catherine the song he picked out for her has parts for two singers. "Anna, do a duet with me? I know you've already been up there once, but the song Greg wants me to do, I need a partner. Help me?"

"Sure." She took another drink from her glass. "Why not?"

"There's another singer coming up now, then Anna and Cath. Then after they are done, there's three singers, then Warrick, then another singer, then you're up birthday boy." Greg looked pleased at himself. "You're going to love the songs I picked out for the two of you."

"You just better hope Rick and I don't beat the sense out of you after this is over with." I shook my head and took another drink.

The singer on stage got done and Anna and Catherine walked up to the stage after finding out from the DJ what song Greg had picked so they could start in on their song. "We are dedicating this song to a very special birthday boy." Anna handed the microphone to Catherine.

"Happy birthday, Nicky. We love you." She kept the microphone as the music started so she could sing the first voice.

Warrick recognized the song right off. "Nice one, Greg. Nicely done. Never thought I'd hear this song again. Cath did this song before when we were at that conference in Utah last year."

I recognized the song and started laughing, "I had completely forgotten about Catherine doing the Savage Garden song in Utah."

I listened in as Catherine started with the first verse to the song. Anna stayed in the background watching Catherine sing. When the chorus came up, Catherine held Anna's hand as they both sang it. Catherine handed the mic to Anna who started on the second verse. _'I'm the kind of person who endorses a deep commitment, getting comfy, getting perfect is what I live for But a look, then a smell of perfume, it's like I'm down on the floor and I don't know what I'm in for.'_ Catherine came back next to Anna and they held hands again as the chorus played out and they sang. When the third verse came on, Anna and Catherine both sang together as much as they could in between laughing at each other. ' _Any time I need to see your face, I just close my eyes and I am taken to a place where your crystal mind and magenta feelings take up shelter in the base of my spine sweet like a chic-a-cherry cola_.' Anna and Catherine both started laughing again and missed the first few words of the next part of the song, but recovered and sang most of the rest of the song in between laughing fits until it ended. Both of them got standing ovations from the crowd as they made their way back towards our table.

"Now that was hot." Warrick stood up to let Catherine back in her seat as Anna came around and sat by me. "Very good, both of you. That was much better than the Utah version."

Catherine picked up her Sprite. "Thank you. That was the most fun I've had in a while. Anna, if this paramedic thing doesn't work out for you and if this CSI thing doesn't work out for me, think we got a future in Vegas as singers?"

She laughed. "I wouldn't go that far, but it is fun. I still don't know what Nick's song is going to be."

Two other singers got up to sing after Anna and Catherine sang. We were all busy talking that we didn't notice when the third singer took the stage. "This song goes out to a very special lady from work and happy birthday to a certain CSI birthday boy."

"What?" I looked up to see who it was. I started laughing. "Hodges?" Catherine and Warrick turned to look at the stage. I stared harder at the figure on the stage, trying to figure out who it was. "It is Hodges."

Catherine looked through the crowd trying to find out who his special lady is. "I don't see who he's singing to though."

"Hodges?" Anna looked at me. "From the lab? Didn't Greg introduce me to him?"

"Yeah he did." I watched as Hodges started in singing 'Aint No Sunshine When She's Gone' to a lady sitting at the front table. Whoever it was had her head down. "He's pretty good actually. I would have never guessed it from working with him." Hodges was looking at the lady at the table, but from where we were sitting, I couldn't see who he was singing to. The dark haired woman had her head in her hands, trying to hide as Hodges kept singing to her. "Anyone see who the lady is?" I stood up to look, but still couldn't tell who she was.

Catherine got out of her seat and started up the aisle to get a better view. Hodges saw her and waved from the stage as he continued on the song. She waved back and made her way back to our table. "It's Wendy!" Catherine motioned for Warrick to scoot over so she could sit down. "Are they together or something? When did that happen?"

Greg shook his head, "Not that I know of, but apparently that's about to change." The song Hodges sang ended and he got off stage and hugged Wendy. "Now that is sweet. I didn't know he knew how to be anything but annoying."

They were on their way out when Greg got them to come talk to us before they left. Wendy was still red faced from Hodges's song. "Happy birthday, Nick."

"Thanks, Wendy and nice song by the way. Didn't know you had it in you."

Hodges looked at Wendy, "I'm just full of surprises. Anyway, Wendy and I are about to have to head back to the lab to check in with Grissom. Slow night tonight and Ecklie sprung us. We just stopped in to eat at the buffet and she wanted to come by. I surprised her with the song."

Wendy laughed. "Surprised? Yes. Embarrassed? Yes. I'm still red." Wendy looked at Anna. "Don't believe we've met." She held out her hand. "Wendy Sims."

"Anna Gigandet." Anna shook Wendy's hand. "I don't think you were in the office when Greg gave me the tour not too long ago. I remember meeting Hodges and Grissom, but you weren't there."

Hodges and Wendy sat with us for about half an hour. They got up to leave just before the DJ called out Warrick's number. Greg looked at Warrick." Your turn, Rick."

Warrick got up and gave Greg the evil eye before he made his way to the stage. "I'll know how badly I've got to beat Sanders after this song." He stopped at the DJ's booth and got the title of his song. I saw Warrick laugh before he made it on stage. "Dedicating this song to a friend of mine who better be afraid. Be very afraid." His song started and Catherine and Anna stood up again to whistle as Warrick sang the Rascal Flatts version of "Life is a Highway." After the first verse was over with, Warrick went to the DJ's booth and borrowed the DJ's sunglasses and wore them to sing the second verse as he did his best to show us his James Brown side while singing the country music version of the song. As he sang the lyrics, I couldn't help but laugh at what I was seeing. He got done and took a bow as the audience cheered for the improv session on stage. Another singer took his place on the stage as Warrick sat back down at our table.

That singer got done as the DJ called out my number. "Your turn my love." Anna kissed the back of my neck as she shoved me out of my seat and I reluctantly made my way up to the stage.

I stopped at the DJ's booth and asked what song I'd be singing. "They picked it out for me and I don't even know what it is."

The DJ looked at his list. "Ah, the birthday boy. You'll be singing something he swore you knew and if not, that TV monitor over there will show the lyrics.'" He handed me the microphone. "Have fun." He went behind the partition to start the music.

I took the stage and looked out towards the audience. The music started and I groaned when I realized what the song Greg had picked out for me actually was. I made eye contact with Greg and made a mental note to kill him later. The opening notes played as I continued to think of the most painful way possible to kill Greg. The music finally changed and I got ready to start singing the lyrics. ' _Plowin' these fields in the hot summer sun, over by the gate, Lordy, here she comes with a basket full of chicken and a big cold jug of sweet tea.'_ I looked out at Anna who was laughing. ' _I make a little room and she climbs on up. Open up her throttle and stir a little dust, just look at her face, she ain't foolin' me. She thinks my tractor's sexy.'_ I watched as Anna stood up to cheer me on as I started singing again. She and Catherine were both standing and cheering me on until the final notes of the song stopped and once again, the crowd erupted into applause for my rendition of the song. I handed the mic back to the DJ and made my way down the stairs and back to our table. Anna met me halfway in the aisle. "You better post my bail." I put my arm around her to lead her back to our table. "I'm about to kill Greg-o."

"You did well and don't kill him. This was fun and you know it." I took her hand as I helped her sit down at our table. She moved over in the bench seat so I could sit next to her.

"Didn't know you had it in you, Nick." Catherine high fived me from across the table. "Way to go."

"Thanks. Greg you better enjoy your last few hours alive, my brother. You're about to die in an extremely violent matter like being doused in honey before I strap you to a red ant hill before a bear buries you in the desert for setting me up like that. Warrick, do you want to hold him down or should I?"

Anna didn't give him a chance to answer before she swatted my hand. "We all had fun tonight. I thought you both did well."

"You're biased though." I took another drink from my beer. "But thank you. As much as I want to beat Greg upside his big head, I will admit, this was fun. Nice way to celebrate our birthdays." I leaned over to kiss Anna.

"Ugh, get a room." Warrick threw a napkin at me. We watched another couple of singers come on stage to try their hand at karaoke. After the third singer got off the stage, he checked his watch. "Wow, it got really late." He stood up with Catherine and Greg. "We need to go check in at the lab. You two enjoy the rest of your night and happy birthday to you both."

Anna and I followed them out. The three of them went one direction while Anna and I went in the direction of the Bellagio valet booth across the street. I got the ticket out of my pocket as Anna put her arms around my waist from behind. "This was fun and I had no idea you could sing like that."

I pulled her arms off of me and brought her around to stand in front of me. "It was and if I ever get tricked into doing that again, someone will pay for it." The valet brought Anna's truck up. She didn't want to drive, so the valet held the door open for her as she got in. We left there and went back to my apartment. She took her shoes off and held them in her hand as she got out of the truck. I picked her up to carry her inside, even though she was protesting. I carried her back to our room and set her on the bed. She fell back against the pillows. "This has been so much fun."

I took my shoes off and threw them in the closet and leaned back next to her. "Even though I wanted to kill Greg for setting me up, this was fun." I used my fingertips to trace her cheek until I leaned in to kiss her. "Mostly because of you."

Anna kissed me back and got up to change. I watched as she slipped the dress off of her body and it fell to the floor. She got one of my t-shirts out of the drawers as I changed also and put that on before getting back in bed next to me.

**A/N: Shout out to Rainack who got to pick the song Warrick sings at the karaoke bar. Thank you.**

**Shout out to RockyWench for giving me the idea about Hodges singing to Wendy. Thank you.**

**Disclaimer – CSI isn't mine. I also do not own a sexy tractor, the songs MMMBop, Bleeding Love, Life is a Highway, Caledonia, Lost, She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy, I Want You, I'm Too Sexy, Aint No Sunshine, nor do I own James Brown, Hanson, Doom, Leona Lewis, Al Green, Michael Buble, Kenny Chesney, the University of Arkansas, Apple, BlackBerry, Savage Garden, Sprite, Nissan, Texas A &M, Strawberry Shortcake, Steel Magnolias, Deadliest Catch, Discovery Channel, DirecTV, Right Said Fred, Tiffany and Co, Toyota, the Las Vegas Wranglers, GMC, Rascal Flatts, the Bellagio, the Orleans Arena, the LVFD, the LVPD, the Arkansas Razorbacks, the Texas Longhorns, the Texas A&M Aggies (who'd want to own them anyway?), Celtic Woman, Xbox, Las Vegas as well as numerous other references in this story. Please take a moment to deal with these devastating revelations I have made and compose yourself so you can move on and review this chapter. I know it might be hard, but try for me. I can lay claim to the two destroyed flower pots in this story. **

**However, I'd give my right kidney to be Anna right now. Just to be all over George Eads like Anna was…Mmmm…No shirt on and…What was I saying? Something about reviews I think? Lost my train of thought. I gotta go wipe the drool off of my keyboard now.**


	10. Bleeding Love

**I wasn't planning on switching POVs through this story, but realized as the chapters played out, I have to since I'm telling this story in the first person rather than the third person. We all know what happens to Nick during the "Stalker" episode and if I kept the story in Nick's POV where that comes up, all you'd be able to see is a blank page while Nick's unconscious and in the hospital or there'd be a huge plot hole in my story. I could always write some fluff about his dreams while he's out of it or just have ten pages of Zs where he's sleeping, but that really doesn't help my story any, plus with twists I've thrown in later on, Nick can't very well narrate what happens because he's not there. (That's always been my beef with Titanic – how could Old Rose narrate what happens to Cal and Lovejoy when she wasn't around to see it?) So, I have to swap between Nick, Anna and another character for later on in the story. I'll list the narrative character in bold before the dialogue starts so you'll know who's telling the story.**

**One week later after the previous chapter.**

**Chapter 10 – Bleeding Love**

**Nick**

"So we're detectives now as well as CSIs?" For the past couple shifts at work, our only assignments have been running down leads in the Jane Galloway case and going over evidence again and again, trying to find anything that might lead us to her killer. Grissom had divided up the list of people having contact with Jane Galloway and Warrick and I got assigned the names of the service people who had been to her house in the past few months. We had already been to a carpet installer's home as well as the telephone guy's house and the natural gas company looking for the employees who had been at her house during that time frame. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary with any of the employees we had interviewed and everyone cooperated fully with our investigation. I knocked on the door to a house belonging to a man that had done some electric work at Jane's house a few weeks ago. "Will our paychecks be showing this promotion?"

Warrick laughed. "Doubt it and I don't like this dual role thing, either. That's why we have detectives. They do their thing while we do our own jobs." He knocked on the door again as he peered through a window next to the door. "Doesn't look like anyone's home. This guy got a phone number?"

I handed him the printout as I looked through the window to see for myself. "Too bad we can't get a pay raise or at least a shoe allowance for all this leather we've been using." I saw no movement inside the house and the lights were all off. Warrick started down the porch steps back towards my Tahoe. "How many more names we got to go?"

He flipped the page back over and counted. "Two. We got a guy that installed the security system about a month ago and a cable guy." He looked at the page. "The cable guy lives on Harris Lane. It's the closest. I say we head there first and then we can stop and grab lunch before we go find the security system installer. I'm starved."

"Sounds good." I started the truck and headed towards the address Warrick gave me as he called the electrician and left as message asking the man to call him back.

"Birthday present from your gal?"

"Huh?" I looked at Warrick and realized he was looking at the watch Anna had given me. "Yeah, she got this for my birthday last week. My old one kept dying on me. She wears one like this. It's kinetic." I shook my arm a few times. "All you do is move it and that keeps the battery charged."

"Very nice, Crime Stopper. Your gal's got good tastes. Did she ever take you shopping for a new shirt? I know Catherine asked you the other day and she suggested that you take Anna with you. Maybe she could give you some singing lessons while she's at it."

"Somehow, I already knew I'd never live that down and yes, Anna took me shopping and picked out some new shirts. I had one of them on the other night at the karaoke bar." I flipped Warrick the bird. "Speaking of which, I still need to kill Greg for doing that to me. Kenny Chesney? Guess it could have been worse."

"Oh come on, Crime Stopper, I thought you did well. I can see why he picked that. The whole tractor thing with you being from the south fits and if anyone needs to kill Greg, it's me. Rascal Flatts? That was a fun night though. She like what you bought her? That necklace?"

"You're just begging for me to shove you out of this truck while we're still moving, aren't you?" I gave him the finger again. "Yes. She loved it. I gave it to her that morning after I got home from work and surprised her with the tickets later on that morning. She hasn't taken it off since. I don't know what she liked more, the necklace or the fact I was able to get two tickets to a sold out concert she so desperately wanted to go to and I'll admit that it wasn't near as bad as I thought it'd be. If you ever repeat this to her, I'll kill you myself, but I actually enjoyed the show." I made the last turn on to the street where the cable guy lived. After calling in to dispatch, Warrick and I got out and headed up the steps, passing a few people outside. "Where do you want to go for lunch? I'm starved." I turned to look at a Luna Cable van and almost ran into someone. "Excuse me." I moved out of the man's way and started up the steps to follow Warrick. "That's who I've got for my cable."

"Anywhere is fine and who do you have?" Warrick turned around to see what I was talking about.

I pointed towards the van in the parking lot. "Luna Cable." I knocked on the door and it opened on its own. "Not locked or shut." I looked at Warrick. "Now what?"

"I guess we go in." Warrick's phone rang. "Brown." He listened to the caller. "Oh yeah, this is Warrick Brown with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

Warrick spoke to the caller about why he was calling as we made our way inside. The apartment was empty, except for a chair and a laptop in the corner of the room. I looked back at Warrick who was on the phone. I took a step in the apartment as I waited to hear if someone would answer me. "Nick Stokes. I'm with Criminalistics. We need to talk to you."

"No, hold on. I got a bad signal."

Warrick stepped outside on the balcony to talk to the caller as I kept looking inside the empty apartment. The apartment was spotless. There were no pictures on the walls or anything inside that would indicate someone lived here. "Your door's open. We just need to ask you a couple of questions." The only sign anyone lived here was the plastic lawn chair and the laptop that was sitting on top of some milk crates in the corner of the room I was in. I turned to see if Warrick was still on the phone. He motioned for me to start looking inside while he finished up his phone call. I left him on the porch and stepped further inside the apartment. I called out again alerting anyone who might be inside of my presence. The carpet in the living room stopped and the ceramic tile of the kitchen started a few steps in front of me. I noticed some red drops on the tile floor and got out a cotton swab to take samples. After dropping phenolphthalein on the swab, it didn't react. "Not blood." I stuck the swab in my vest pocket and stood up and looked towards the bedroom of the apartment. I heard footsteps behind me on the tile floor and as I turned around, I was slammed into the wall next to the refrigerator. The force of the impact was enough to knock the breath out of me. I gasped and tried to reach for my gun, but I wasn't fast enough. Whoever was fighting me shoved me into an adjacent wall, this time pinning me. As I fought with my assailant, I tried to tell him I was with the police department crime lab but couldn't get the full statement out before I was again shoved into the wall causing me to trip over the open cabinet door. I fought back and managed to shove him off of me, allowing me to stand up before I was shoved out of the kitchen and slammed against a wall in the hallway leading towards the back of the apartment. Still trying to fight back, I managed to knock him to the ground, but he got up quickly when he saw me trying to reach for my gun. I didn't get a chance to get it out and I was hit again as I was pushed violently into the front room, knocking the breath out of me once more. I got free of my attacker after I landed a right hook and made it to the door of the bedroom. "Warrick!" I tried yelling out again, but he didn't hear me. I was yanked back in the room and tripped and fell to the floor, hitting my head on a closet door that was open.

My attacker wouldn't listen to my pleas to stop fighting with me and because of a hooded shirt across his head, I couldn't see his face. He stood over me and shook his head before he put his foot on my chest to keep me down. "You're a bad friend." I tried to think if I recognized the voice, but I couldn't place it. I said I was with the crime lab, but rather than stopping, I was yanked to my feet and shoved once more and heard the sound of glass breaking. I landed on the ground below the window with a sickening thud. The shadowy figure that had just thrown me out the window was still up watching me. I tried to focus on getting a good look at whoever it was as I heard Warrick yelling out for me to hang on. "Warrick, he's up there." I tried to point towards who it was that shoved me out the window, but couldn't. I saw that he was still up in the window watching as Warrick called in to dispatch with an officer down call, but I couldn't get his attention.

"Officer down! We have an officer down at 826 Harris Lane. Officer down! We need an ambulance and backup at 826 Harris Lane now!" I could hear from his voice that he was approaching me. He was still calling in to dispatch what was happening as he got closer to me. "Officer down! Suspect still on premises." Warrick looked up at the broken window. I groaned as the pain shot up my body as he turned his attention back to me. "Nick, oh my God, Nick!" He threw his radio on the ground and sat next to me. "Nick? Talk to me!"

I couldn't concentrate on what he was telling me because of the pain. My only thoughts were of Anna. "Anna." I tried to get up, but couldn't. "Anna. Call her." I tried to stay awake, but I was fighting a losing battle with the pain I was in. I tried to concentrate on the sound of sirens approaching but I couldn't do it through the pain I was in.

**Anna**

"Bullfrog!" I shoved him off the couch. "You just shot me and now I'm dead. I'm on your team, goof. You're supposed to shoot the aliens and the other station's members, not me. We've got to beat Station 12. They're up two games to one and it's about time they handed over that Doom trophy to someone else but they won't if you don't quit killing me."

"Sorry." Bryan got back on the couch and started playing again as my character reset after I was graciously killed by my own team member. "Think we got a chance of taking station 12's trophy from them?"

Maneuvering my player through a maze of obstacles and over a land mine without it blowing up, I stopped to shoot an alien on screen. "Yeah, if you'll quit killing my character we do." I shot at another enemy alien on screen and watched him go down. "And another one bites the dust." I turned around, looking for my babysitter. "Where's Marshmallow Man? I need the backup."

Bryan blew up an alien. "He's asleep. He was tired." He blew up another alien with the original shot. "Bonsai!"

We had just gotten into the next level of the game when the bell at the station sounded. I put my controller down and Bryan and I both stood up, preparing to run out the door as the dispatcher announced the call over the station's radio system, " _Officer down, 826 Harris Lane. Medic 72, Truck 41 please respond. Repeat, officer down 826 Harris Lane. Medic 72, Truck 41 please respond. Advise also that Angel Rescue Two is en route for immediate transport. LVPD units on scene, suspect may still be on the premises. Responding units please beware this subject is considered dangerous."_

Brad came up front after hearing the bell. "That for us?"

Bryan shook his head, "No. That's for station 8. Medic 72 is assigned there."

Brad went to the kitchen as I looked at Bryan. "Not good when you get an officer down call. Wonder who it is?"

"We can call dispatch later on and find out who it was and how they're doing." He turned his attention back to the game. "Bonsai!" I watched him as his player jumped off some rocks and into the middle of a forest and started shooting the aliens around him.

"Yeah. Later." I was still staring at the PA speaker in the room we were in and wondering how Bryan could go from one emotion to the next so quickly. I wasn't paying attention to the game. Something kept nagging me about the call but I didn't know what it was.

"Aggie?" I turned my attention back to the game after Bryan said my name. I picked up my controller, diverting my attention from the officer down call back to the Doom game we were playing.

About an hour later, the phone at the station rang. "I got it." Bryan stood up to answer the phone after he gave the controller to Brad. "Station 11, Brooks." Bryan was quiet as the caller spoke. "Yeah, hold on." He held the phone out. "Aggie, for you."

I gave my controller to Marshmallow Man and got up to get the phone from Bryan. "Station 11, Gigandet." I watched as Bryan sat back down next to Brad to finish playing the game.

"Anna?"

"This is she."

"Anna, this is Catherine Willows."

I felt a chill run down my spine. I knew by the tone of her voice that this was not going to be a social call or an update on the investigation from the other day. "Catherine? What's wrong?" She said nothing. "Catherine? Oh, God. It's Nick." I dropped the phone on the floor and slid down the wall. Bryan noticed me and threw his controller on the ground. He got up to come see what was wrong with me as Brad looked on. Bryan handed me the phone as he sat down beside me on the floor. I numbly held it to my ear, bracing myself for the worst. "Catherine? What's going on? What's wrong? Where's Nicky?"

"It is Nick. He got hurt at a scene earlier. Another ambulance crew came and got him and took him to Desert Palms. He kept saying your name over and over again after he got here. Warrick said Nick wanted him to call you right after it happened, but he didn't get a chance to because Nick lost consciousness at the scene. The police got there after Warrick made the officer down call and they didn't find the person who hurt Nick. It was only after Nick got here that he realized you weren't here and he started to panic. I told him I'd call you right before he had to be sedated."

I started to shake. "What happened?" Bryan reached for one of my hands and held it in both of his while I listened to Catherine explain what happened. Brad sat on my other side and kept looking at Bryan to find out what was wrong. Bryan made a gesture to Brad that he'd tell him what was going on later.

"Warrick and Nick were at an address checking for a connection to the Jane Galloway murder case from earlier. Warrick was on the phone and Nick went in and apparently the suspect was in the apartment and shoved Nick out a second story window."

"Oh, God." I thought about the officer down call. "Harris Lane? That was Nick? The one 72 got?"

"Yeah, that was him. I take it that wasn't your station?"

I choked back tears, forcing my voice to work right. "No, we're medic 78. That address is on the other end of town. I just heard that call about an hour ago." The room started to spin as I got dizzy thinking about Nick being hurt. "I'm across the street. I'm on my way." I threw the phone at Brad and ran out the front door, ignoring their pleas for me to wait on them to drive me. I kept going and ran outside and through traffic, not even bothering to pay any attention to the cars as they flew past me as I ran to the hospital. Running through the ED doors, I ran into Catherine who was still holding her phone in her hand. "Where is he?"

"They just took him upstairs to radiology. Come on." She took me by the arm and walked with me to the hospital elevators. "He just got taken upstairs when I hung up the phone with you."

She pushed the button and after waiting what seemed like hours, the doors opened and the elevator took us upstairs. When the doors opened, I took off running again, leaving Catherine behind.

"Anna?"

I stopped in my tracks and turned around and to see who was calling me. "Warrick. Where's Nick?" I looked through the windows of the recovery room across the hall from where we were, trying to find him. "What happened earlier? Where is he?"

"Sit down, please." He tried to lead me to the chairs on the wall in the waiting room. "He's still being looked at. The docs are pulling x-rays."

"Damn it, I don't want to sit." I pulled away from Warrick and shoved him back when he tried to reach for me as I started towards the nurses' desk. "I'm with the LVFD. I'm checking on a patient. Nick Stokes?"

"Hold on. Let me look, dear." The older lady at the nurses' desk tried to reassure me with a warm smile as she typed his name in the computer. "According to this, he was seen downstairs in the ED. Cuts, abrasions and some bruises and a suspected dislocated shoulder, possibly broken." She looked up at me. "You're his wife?"

I started to say I was just his girlfriend when Catherine interrupted me and told the lady I was his wife. "Yes, they just got married not too long ago and she hasn't had time to change her last name on her shirt. Isn't that right, Anna?"

Though I was puzzled by Catherine's behavior, I didn't argue. "Yes. Is Nick still in x-ray?"

The nurse said he was and she'd come get us when she had more news. Catherine led me over to the chairs as I sat down between Warrick and Catherine. I put my head in my hands as the elevator doors opened again. I kept my head in my hands, not even bothering to look up to see who came in. "Anna?"

I looked up and saw Mr. Grissom and another lady standing in front of me. "Mr. Grissom."

"Please, call me Gil. I don't think you've ever met Sara. This is Sara Sidle with the crime lab."

I held out my hand and she shook it, but I was still mechanical and not paying attention to much of anything as I sat back down in the chair. Sara sat down in front of me. "Anna?" I looked up at her. I couldn't say anything through my tears. "He's going to be okay." Sara hugged me as I laid my head on her shoulder and cried.

"Are you here about Nick Stokes?"

I pulled my head off of Sara's shoulder when the strange male voice spoke. "We all are. I'm his wife, Anna." I motioned to the people around me. "These are his co-workers from the Las Vegas Crime Lab. How is my husband?" I noticed Sara shot Gil a look that he waved off. "Where is he? Can I see him?"

"I'm Dr. Stephen Reed. I'm one of the emergency department trauma surgeons who saw your husband when he was brought in. He's still in back being treated right now. We've pulled a set of x-rays and we've done an MRI of his shoulder and so far we've found an anterior dislocation of the left shoulder. That's when…"

I cut him off, "I'm a paramedic. I know what it means. What else? What about internal damage? Is he going to be okay?"

"He's also got a concussion, a sprained wrist, a tension pneumothorax as well as a few stitches to his forehead for a cut along with slight renal trauma. We're also about to take a second set of x-rays to check for bruised or cracked ribs. All in all, he's going to be okay. He's very lucky. If he would have fallen and landed at a different angle, he could have shattered his spine or broken his neck." Dr. Reed stood up to leave. "We'll need him up here for a little bit longer so we can pull some more x-rays and possibly another MRI or a CT to check for further damage. I don't see why he can't go home in a couple hours or so after we're done running the additional tests." Dr. Reed eyed the crowd behind me. "You can go back since you're his wife, but I can only allow two people at a time. Which one of you is Mr. Stokes's supervisor?"

"I am." Gil stepped forward. "I'm the supervisor on the night shift at the Las Vegas Crime Lab." He held out his hand, "Dr. Gil Grissom." Dr. Reed shook Gil's hand and told us he'd come get Gil and me when Nick got moved to a recovery room.

"Someone want to explain to me what's going on? Anna?"

I looked over at Warrick. "He's, uh, he's got a dislocated shoulder, a bruised kidney, maybe some bruised ribs and air in his chest cavity where there shouldn't be any, likely from a collapsed lung due to the fall and a cut to his forehead that needed stitches." I put my head back in my hands.

Two hours later, the doctor told us that they had moved Nick to a recovery room and Gil and I could go back and see him but not to stay too long. "As I said earlier, pending anything popping up on the MRI or the x-rays we just took, he'll probably be released later on today." Dr. Reed looked at me, "Are you going back to work after this? He's going to need someone to stay with him for the next couple days."

I looked down at my clothes. I had forgotten I was still in my uniform from work. "N-no, I can call in for the rest of my shift and get someone to cover for me." I stared at Nick through the window. "I'll be home with him." I didn't break my gaze from the window as I put my hand on the glass and looked at Nick, still sleeping in the recovery room.

Dr. Reed left us alone as Gil and I went in Nick's room. "Do you want to be alone?"

I shook my head. "No. Not just yet." I pulled a chair next to Nick's bed and picked up his right hand in mine. His eyes were closed and he was sedated from the MRI and the x-rays from earlier. I closed my eyes as I leaned over to the bed to cry. I felt Gil's hand on my shoulder as the tears fell freely from my eyes and onto the bed.

Gil stayed with me until he got a phone call about half an hour later. He stepped out to take it, leaving me alone with Nick who was still asleep. I closed my eyes and started to softly sing. _'Let me tell you that I love you, that I think about you all the time. Caledonia, you're calling me, now I'm going home, but if I should become a stranger, know that it would make me more than sad. Caledonia's been everything I've ever had."_ I stopped to wipe tears out of my eyes as I tried to remember the rest of the song. I had heard the song a thousand times, but now I could only remember parts of it. ' _Now I'm sitting here before the fire, the empty room, the forest choir. The flames have cooled, don't get any higher, they've withered, now they've gone but I'm steady thinking, my way is clear and I know what I will do tomorrow. When hands have shaken, the kisses float, then I will disappear.'_ I stopped singing when Nick started to stir. "Nick?" I put my hand on his shoulder. "Nicky?" _  
_  
"Caledonia."

I wiped a tear out of my eyes when he recognized the song I was singing. "Nicky?" I got up from the chair and sat on the edge of the bed as I put my right hand on his cheek. "Nick?"

Nick's eyes finally opened. I could see he was trying to focus on where he was. He finally focused enough to see me. "Anna." He smiled. "I now know why you love that song so much." He tried to sit up, but I held him back. "What happened?"

"You were pushed out of a window at a crime scene. You've been here at the hospital about five hours. Catherine called me and I ran over here." I felt Nick's hand tighten around mine. "Oh God, I…" I had to stop speaking. I was crying again.

"I'm the one hurt and in pain and you're the one crying. That's why I love you so much." Nick let go of my hand and reached over and brushed the tears off of my cheeks. "When can I go home?"

I looked over at Gil after he knocked on the door and told him to come in. He moved by a couple of hospital employees looking in at us from the hallway and opened the door to Nick's room and came in. "Heard you were up." Gil pulled the chair that I was using by the bed and sat down. "Welcome back. Anna's going to take you home in a little bit. She's your wife now by the way." Gil smiled when Nick looked confused. "It was the only way they'd let her back here. So we lied for you. I'm going to head back to the lab. Nick, you're off work for the next week. Doctor's orders. Anna, make sure he listens." I thanked him for helping me as he turned and left the room, leaving me alone with Nick.

"My wife?" He smiled. "Anna Stokes. That's easier to remember and easier to spell than Gigandet."

"And it fits." I held his hand in mine and kissed him gently.

"Lie down with me." Nick pulled on my hand and tried to pull me down so I could lie in bed with him. "Please? Finish the song?"

I tried to position myself in bed where I wouldn't hurt him. After moving around some, I finally got settled and finished Caledonia while Nick closed his eyes and relaxed. His left arm was in a sling again and his right arm was around me, holding me, with his fingers lightly tracing my back as I softly sang. I got done with the song and started crying again. "I'm fine, Anna. You can stop crying." He hugged me tighter with his right arm as he tried to console me. "Necklace looks good on you."

I looked down to the heart pendant hanging from my neck. "I'm just relieved you're okay." I wiped tears from my eyes with my free hand. "I just..." I stopped, trying to find the right words as I propped myself up on my elbow so I could see him better. I kissed him gently. "I can't lose you."

"I promise you this," Nick put his hand on my cheek so he could look directly at me, "You never will."

I started to cry again, but stopped myself when an employee came in our room. "You need to check Nicky for something?"

The man stared at me. It looked like he was lost or out of place. "No. I'm just checking to see how he's doing. Nick, do you need me for anything?"

Nick shook his head, "No. I'm fine now that Anna's here. Could you send a nurse in though? Adjust my pain meds for me?"

Nick couldn't see from his vantage point in bed, but I saw the man's fists tighten before he said he'd send in a nurse. I shook my head and turned my attention back to Nick. "Well, if I would have brought soap, you wouldn't need a shower." I laughed. "I'm giving you one right now by crying."

Nick started to laugh. "Ouch. Don't make me laugh. That hurts."

Dr. Reed came by an hour or so later and released Nick from the hospital. He handed me a stack of papers and a few prescriptions. "Now keep still and no work for at least a week. I trust you to keep him home. He needs time to heal." He then handed me a white paper bag. "Some samples of the medications I've written prescriptions for. This will hold you over until you can get to the pharmacy."

"Thank you." I looked at Nick in the wheelchair as he was watching the nurse adjust the foot holds. "I'll make sure he stays off work." She pushed the chair out towards the waiting room as I held on to Nick's right hand. We got to the waiting room and saw everyone. "You have an audience."

"I get hurt and the whole team shows up. Nice. Thanks for coming. I appreciate it." Nick looked up at me. "We both appreciate it."

Catherine said she'd drop the prescriptions off at the pharmacy on her way back to the lab. "We're going back by that apartment later on to finish what you and Warrick started. You go home. Let Anna take care of you. We'll let you know what we find."

When we got outside, I realized I had run over from the station and didn't bring my truck. "Can one of you give us a ride to the station, or stay with Nick so I can go get my truck? I ran over when Catherine called."

"Your partner and Marshmallow Man gave them to me and they brought your overnight bag from work, too." Greg showed me my keys as he handed me my LVFD bag. "Stay here. I'll go get your car. Your partner told me to tell you that Marshmallow Man had volunteered to take your spot on the ambulance so you could go home with Nick. Your work husband said to call him later and let everyone know how Nick's doing." Greg left, headed to get my truck from the parking lot as I made a mental note to thank both of them for bringing my truck to me and covering me on the rest of my shift so I could go home with Nick. Greg appeared a moment later with my truck and the nurse and I helped Nick inside and we went back to his apartment.

"Home." Nick looked around his apartment and sighed. He pulled me in close to him with his right arm. "Thank you." He kissed me and laid his head on top of mine. "What a day."

"Yeah. You're telling me and you're welcome, but I'm not quite sure what you're thanking me for."

Nick sat down on the couch and winced as he went to lie back. I sat down on the floor in front of the couch. "For being there for me." He brushed my cheek with his fingers. "It's nice to have someone there waiting for me and to take care of me. Thank you."

"You're welcome." I leaned in to kiss him again, this time taking my time doing so. I had to pull back before things went any further. "What timing to go and get injured." I kissed him again and turned the TV on.

After taking some of the medications the doctor had given us, he fell asleep on the couch. Nick had just enough to last until I could pick up the prescriptions later on at the pharmacy. I woke him up long enough to move him to the bedroom where he promptly fell asleep again. I stayed in bed with him, holding onto his hand as he slept. I started changing the channels, not really watching TV. My attention was focused on Nick and watching him for any sign of distress. The doorbell rang and I got up and headed up front and opened the door. "Hey, everyone. Nick's asleep, but come in."

Catherine came in, followed by Greg and Warrick. "Here are the prescriptions. We stopped by to bring them to you so you wouldn't have to leave Nick to go get them." I took the bag from her and she hugged me. "How's he doing?"

"Thank you. I was going to go out later, but you saved me a trip. As for how he's doing…" I shrugged my shoulders after getting hugs from Greg and Warrick. "He's asleep. He doesn't remember much about what happened. He just said he remembered fighting with someone who appeared out of nowhere and then being shoved out the window and being in a lot of pain but that's it. He told Gil at the hospital that everything else is a blur. Traumatic amnesia I guess."

The three of them stayed for a bit, telling me that they would be headed back to the apartment later on to see if the owner was home and to finish what Nick and Warrick started. I told them I'd call if anything happened. They left and I shut the door behind them. I locked the deadbolt on the door and headed back to the bedroom. Nick was still asleep. I changed out of my uniform and into a t-shirt of Nick's and got in bed next to him and hoped I'd be able to sleep.

**Catherine**

Warrick, Sara and Greg stopped by the day after Nick got hurt and interviewed the neighbors at the apartment building where Nick got injured, but they didn't know anything about the occupant in the apartment they were asking about nor did they see anything after Nick got hurt. Most everyone they talked to thought the apartment was vacant because of the lack of furniture. Greg noted in his report that he stopped by the manager's office and confirmed with them that the occupant was Nigel Crane and his rent was paid on time every month.

Grissom and I were back at the apartment about a week later to finish up the investigation. He was reading over a printout one of the uniforms had given us before we left the lab. "Nigel Crane, age 37. No criminal record. According to this, he's worked for Luna Cable for eleven years and lives alone and no mention of any family members." Grissom handed me the printout he was holding as I was looking at the boarded up window on the second floor from where we stood outside. He headed in the apartment as I checked the perimeter of the apartment building.

It was getting dark outside as I started the perimeter check. I got my flashlight and turned it on so I could check the grounds. I made a few passes over the grass in the yard but didn't see anything. I started towards the hedges under the windows and something reflected off the beam of light. I bent down to pick the object up and it was a pair of sunglasses. I got an evidence bag out and put them in the bag and walked back to my truck and tossed the bag in the front seat. I turned my flashlight back on and kept an eye out for anything on the sidewalk that was leading up the stairs. I entered the apartment and checked to see where Grissom went, but he was nowhere to be found.

"Not a stick of furniture except for a computer and a chair." I started out in the living room, looking for anything that would suggest a human being lived here, but with the exception of the white plastic chair, a few milk crates and the laptop, there was nothing. "How do people live like this?" I saw a coat closet in the living room and opened the door. "Empty." I shut the door and started to look around the apartment. "I bet this is what Gil's apartment looks like, except I bet he's got his bug collection out." I mused to myself at the thought as I searched the rest of the apartment and found nothing. There was nothing here to suggest anyone lived here. "No pictures, no furniture, no clothes, no TV. Nothing." All of the items I normally saw in a house were absent. Even though no one was in the house, I realized I was speaking out loud to myself as I walked through the apartment. I stopped to look at the computer and chair again. "This looks like the owner moved, but forgot to take the laptop and chair with him." I started back towards the kitchen and saw some red smudges on the cabinet door. After taking samples of the red smudges on the outside of the door, I opened it and saw that the cabinet was empty except for a recycling bin at the bottom. The bin had the same red drops in it that were on the door. I was swabbing the drops inside the bin when I heard something move in the pantry behind me. "What the hell?" I looked over and saw Grissom coming out of the attic. "You scared me." I shined my light in his face as he stepped on the stool in the pantry and then on the floor behind me. "What were you doing up there?"

"I heard what you said and I do have more furniture than this in my apartment, thank you." Gil turned his flashlight back on and aimed it at the attic access. "He lives up there, not down here. Works, sleeps, changes his clothes. Everything up there. He looks down on the world separating himself from others. Fascinating really."

"You're gonna love this, then." I held up a swab I had taken. "Red hair dye. Look familiar?"

"That's the same color as Jane's hair." Grissom was lost in thought as he looked back at the attic access panel in the pantry. "That's how he was able to sneak up on Nick. Nick told me at the hospital that the guy appeared out of nowhere. He was where you were and he was probably looking at those drops on the floor just like you were and I was able to sneak up on you. If Nigel was the one that hurt Nick, that'd explain how he was able to sneak up on him the same way I just snuck up on you. Look."

"That's what Anna told me also. Said Nick told her he didn't know where Nigel came from." I got on the step ladder and hoisted myself up in the attic. I sat on the attic floor, leaving my legs hanging down through the opening. I turned my flashlight back on and followed the beam of light around the room. Everything Nigel owned was crammed into the small confines of the attic. The bed was shoved against a wall next to a bookcase full of tapes from a handheld camcorder. "How many tapes you think he's got up here?" I pulled my legs through the opening of the attic and after getting up and dusting my pants off, started counting the tapes on the shelf. After losing count at 30 tapes on one shelf, I stopped. "Somehow I don't think I want to know what's on these tapes."

Grissom came up through the attic access door. "I don't think I want to know, either." He turned his flashlight on and shined the beam of light at the tapes before shaking his head. "Dinner and a movie?" He looked at the tapes a second time as he started to count them on the shelves. "Hope you like horror films. Something tells me that these aren't going to be cartoons about mutated karate trained kung fu reptiles."

Grissom and I spent the next hour boxing up the tapes as well as some other evidence from the apartment. I had just gotten the last box put in my truck when I saw the boarded up window on the top floor that Nick had been shoved out of. "I'm gonna call Anna and see how Nicky's doing. He had a follow up appointment earlier today with the radiologist. I'll meet you at the lab." I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Anna's number. "Anna?"

"Hey Catherine."

Shutting the back door of my truck, I asked how Nick was doing. "How'd the appointment go? Wasn't that today?"

"Yeah it was. He's doing really well actually. His follow up appointment earlier today went really well. The radiologist pulled another x-ray and did an MRI and said that everything looks good. He got the stitches out of his forehead while he was there. He's almost back to his normal self and got released for work next week. We're just getting ready to head out to grab dinner and may go see a movie. I'm not in a cooking mood and we both have a bad case of cabin fever."

I got in the truck and started it up getting ready to head back to the lab. "We just finished up here at the apartment Nick was at. We didn't find much, just some video tapes and some other odds and ends we're going to take back to the lab and process. Did Nick lose a pair of sunglasses by any chance?"

"Oakleys? Yeah, he said they must have fallen out of his pocket when he got shoved out of the window. Did you find them?"

I glanced over at the sunglasses in the bag on my seat. "Yes. Tell him we're going to process them for fingerprints and we'll get them back to him later. I'll let you know what we find on the tapes. If anything changes with Nick, let us know."

"I will, Cath and thank you for everything. Please tell everyone else the same also. Nick and I both appreciate it."

We hung up as I got to the lab. I handed a box of tapes to Warrick and another to Sara. "Take those inside to Archie and tell him to find some popcorn and tell him to start with the first one." I looked at the third box. "It's going to be a long night."

Two hours and a dozen tapes into the collection later, we were no closer to finding out what was going on than we were before we started. The tapes we saw up until this point were just generalized with crowd shots, random rants and different views of inanimate objects. I yawned and got ready to shove the next tape in the machine when Gil came in. "We're looking at this backwards. We've been doing this the wrong way." He handed me a tape. "See the number?"

"Tape 89. So what?"

"This tape has Jane Galloway on it. This is the one we found at her house. It was in the attic." He handed the tape to Archie who put in the machine. As the tape began to play, Jane Galloway appeared on the screen. It was a montage of shots from her in bed to painting her toenails to soaking in a bubble bath. "We need the last tape. We've been going about this all wrong. If this cable guy was the one who hurt Nick, it'd be after the Jane Galloway tapes." Gil started moving tapes around in the last box. He handed me a tape that was near the bottom of the box. I took it from him and handed it to Archie.

"Archie, play this." I handed him the last tape. He put it in the machine and the screen came on. "That's him." I looked at the picture in my hand and compared it to the images on the TV monitors. "That's Nigel Crane." I watched for a few moments before he started going off on a rampage about Anna and Nick on the tape.

" _You will never get me. No. No. You'll never get me the way he does. And I…I got a friend. I told you I did! We had something. We were friends. Best of friends, but then that girl came along and ruined it all. Before she came in the picture, he knew me. He acknowledged me but now it's Anna this and Anna that. Enough about Anna! I'm sick of Anna. I want my friend back but instead Nick, you're just too wrapped up in your pathetic little life with Anna to see what's going on around you. I've tried to get her out of your life, but it just didn't work. You figured out the shirt that was hers was a plant. I should have thought of that, but I didn't. I knew you were smarter than that. I tried to get rid of her with the note and with the peanut butter. I saw her medical bracelet and it listed her allergies, so I put the peanut butter on the door handle and nothing. Again! Nothing! I was hoping that when you showed her the pictures your classmate sent, she'd get mad and leave, but apparently she didn't. You never left her side. You were always with her. I saw you at crime scenes and you didn't see me. I saw her at the scene with the cat. The paper came and made a big production of it, but they didn't mention you and you're the real hero even though you weren't at that scene. I saw you out at restaurants and you didn't see me. I saw you at the store and you didn't see me. I saw you at the Bellagio and you didn't see me. I saw you at the karaoke bar and you didn't see me. I tried to get your attention, but no. You didn't look. I tried to get Anna away from you to tell you what a good job you did on the song, but no. You didn't leave her. As you left, you walked right by me that night. You even had to move out of my way when I came in the door. Did you even look at me? No. You just kept to yourself or just kept walking away, living in your own little world consumed by her. You never saw me! YOU NEVER SAW ME BECAUSE OF HER! Why didn't you see me, Nick? It's because of HER!"_ Nigel threw a water bottle he was holding off camera and got up, leaving the picture. He came back in the frame and sat down again. _"It's like he's the kind of guy I always wanted to be and that's why it's so great because we're friends now. I finally have someone that understands me. We're so close, we even wear the same clothes. I think if it came right down to it, he'd lay his life down for me, but Anna would probably stop him. Now I guess I just have to take it in my own hands now, don't I? I need to find another way to make sure she dies. Guess the peanut butter is out. We already know that won't work. She'll just save her life again. I'll just have to kill her myself."_ He stopped talking and looked down at his feet. He stayed that way for a few moments before he looked back at the camera. _"Yeah, you'll be sad, but I'll be there for you. I'll be there like a true friend should be. I'm your one true friend, Nick. Not Anna. Not anyone from work, but ME! We had something going on. We talked for hours that day. Remember? Just you and me. Once she is finally left us alone, we had established a friendship, a solid friendship. You know that. You trusted me and I trusted you."_ Nigel turned his attention to the empty space next to him as he rambled on about something else.

"It was almost like he was looking at someone who wasn't there. Think he's imagining Nick being there?" I was beginning to understand why Nick and Anna were so upset by this guy. I looked at Grissom to see if he had a response, but he said nothing as we continued to watch the tape until Nigel got up and left the frame but came back a few moments later and sat back down.

" _See, I told you! Nick trusts me, don't you, Nick? He'd trust me enough to stop his heart. We're true friends and true friends trust each other. Ask him! He'll let me kill her. I know he will."_ Nigel started pointing to something behind the camera. " _Go ask him. He'll tell you. I tried to get into see him at the hospital but couldn't get her away from him. That annoying Anna was back in the room, sleeping in the bed next to him at the hospital. I went in the room after I stole some scrubs to say hi and he didn't recognize me. Anna was there, brainwashing him as usual. No one even asked who I was or what I was doing there. Everyone was consoling Anna. It's Anna this and Anna that. Anna, Anna, Anna, Anna. Enough! Enough Anna! I didn't want to hurt you, but it was the only way I could get your attention. I had to get you away from her. Nick, why didn't you kick her out of the hospital room? I was there. I wanted to see you. That's what friends do. I was upset. I was worried about you, but did anyone stop and ask me how I was doing? NO! It was Anna, Anna, Anna. How's Anna? What can we do to help Anna? Someone help Anna. What does Anna need?"_

Something on the side of the screen caught my eye. "Archie, freeze it." Archie stopped the tape as I tried to figure out what it was. "Over on the left side of the screen, zoom in on those pictures."

"Will do." Archie moved the zoom frame around what I was looking at. "Who's the girl?" Archie had zoomed in on a picture on the shelf behind where Nigel was sitting. "That Anna?"

Grissom looked at the screen as Archie started to focus the pixels. "Yes, that's Anna, Archie."

Archie moved the zoom frame over and sharpened the image even more. "Looks like a newspaper article." Archie continued working on it until he got the picture clear enough to read the caption on the picture of Anna. "Oh wait, I remember that. She's the one that saved that kid's cat. That story in the paper made my mother cry when she read it."

"I saw that, too. Nick showed it to us before he went home that morning. He said it was Anna's birthday and he had a surprise in store for her. That picture was taken the day before Anna's birthday." I focused on the newspaper photo and I saw something else. "There's more beside the picture of Anna and the little girl and her cat." I looked at the two photos, trying to figure out what they were of. "Sharpen it up. I can't see it."

Archie moved the zoom frame over and focused on the images. One was a picture of Nick and Anna that was taped to the wall, the second was our internal newsletter. "That's the internal newsletter with Nick being the featured Crime Stopper. How'd weird cable guy get that? That newsletter isn't distributed out of this office, but he's got a copy and where'd the picture of Nick and Anna come from? I doubt either of them let him take their picture with any camera. Nigel's already said on the tape that Nick didn't recognize him whenever he saw them out."

"Nick said he took a copy of that newsletter home to show Anna, but how'd Nigel get it?" I opened the case file in front of me. "Nick said he got the cable installed over two months ago, but this newsletter is less than two weeks old. Nigel must have been back in Nick's apartment at some point in time." I stared at the picture of Nick and Anna until I remembered where it came from. "That picture of Nick and Anna was from a career day Anna worked a couple weeks ago. I remember that because Lindsey took the picture for the school paper. Lindsey said Anna had asked for copies when she got the film developed and told her to give them to me so I could give them to Nick. I gave them to Nick about a week or so ago. I don't remember the date that Anna was there, but Lindsey said that they were together at her school. I can ask the principal when Anna was there. Nick didn't sign up did he?"

Grissom shook his head, "No, day shift went this year, but they went before the LVFD did. He must have gone with Anna as support or something."

A thought hit me. "Where are the photos from the scenes Nick has worked from the past couple weeks? Archie, I need the ones from Brad's camera also. Pull them all up and put them on the monitors." I knew where the crime scene shots were that I needed. I ran out of the room and down the hall to the records room. After dragging a stool over, I got the box down that I needed. Not even bothering to properly cut the evidence tape sealing the box, I pulled the lid off, tearing the box in the process. Moving aside bags of evidence, I got my hands on the envelope with the photos in it. Leaving everything where it was, I ran back to the AV lab. "I took some crowd photos at this scene. It was a house fire that Nick and I worked. Nick said he and Anna both didn't feel right. I didn't think it'd hurt anything and if it made them both feel better, I'd do it." I laid out the photos on the table, tossing photos aside until I got to the end of the stack where the crowd shots were. "Here." I started looking through the crowd trying to see if I could see Nigel in any of the shots. "Archie, give me that magnifying glass." I held my hand out and he dropped it in my hand. I started looking through the magnifying glass at the crowd. I froze when I stopped over Nigel's face in the crowd. "He was there watching." I flipped to another picture and he was in that one. "He saw everything. No wonder they were both so messed up. He was there the whole time and they were being watched."

"But what set him off this time? Wasn't Anna there when Nick had his cable hooked up?" Grissom took the magnifying glass from me and started to look at the pictures. "Nigel's changed positions in the shots. In this one, he's closer to the end of the yard, but in this one, he's in the middle of the street."

"Anna was there when Nick got his cable hooked up, but he said she was sick. Anna was in the bedroom sleeping when Nigel was there." I picked the magnifying glass up again and looked at the photos. "Nick was collecting footprints from the outside in this shot." I picked up the one of Nigel in the street. "Nick was talking to Anna in this one. Nigel kept moving because he was trying to get Nick's attention at the scene, but Nick wasn't paying attention to anyone but Anna." I put the magnifying glass down on the table. "Nick touched her." I remembered now. "At the scene as I was taking pictures, he touched her shoulder and let his hand drift down her arm until he held her hand. I remember that he touched her before she left to go back to the station. They were both really uneasy about what was going on. Nick didn't let on to Anna that he was as uneasy as she was, but he told me later on that day after Anna was gone that he was freaked out. They both were really worried, but Nick was trying to reassure her." I put the photo down and started to flip through the other ones. "Nigel's here in this one, too." Nick was facing the crowd and Nigel was looking at him, trying to get his attention, but Nick was focused on something else and wasn't paying any attention to him. "Nick wasn't looking in his direction so he didn't see it. "Archie, pull up the crowd photos from the last few cases Nick worked. It's time to play where's the psycho."

Archie pushed some keys on the keyboard and the pictures came up. "This was from that wreck earlier with the DUI." He flipped through the shots. "That him?"

I said it was and as we flipped through photos of three more scenes, Archie found Nigel Crane in the crowd shots of two photos while Gil and I found Nigel in four more of the pictures including the ones Brad took. My blood ran ice cold as I realized what was going on. "He's mad at Nick for not recognizing him and he's taking it out on both of them. Oh God."

Gil looked at me. "Where are they?"

"Anna said they were at Nick's. She said he was getting hungry and they were going out to eat and then to a movie if Nick felt up to it."

He left the folder he was holding on the desk as he turned to leave. "I'll call Nick and warn him about what we found. Catherine, you call Brass and get some uniforms over there now. Anna didn't go back to work this week, did she? I know Nick's off through this weekend."

"She's there with him and she's not going back to work until Nick's better. Anna said she was going to stay off work until Nick came back to work next week." I turned around and watched as Gil ran out of the lab, headed back to his office to call Nick as I dialed Brass's number on my cell phone. I felt a shiver run up my spine as the still picture of Nigel Crane on the screen stared down at me.

**A/N: Oooh….A cliffie! I know that on the DVD, Grissom and Catherine went back to the house that same night after Sara and Warrick took Nick home. I swapped that with Greg, Sara and Warrick and added in the second visit by Gil and Catherine to my version of the story so that events in the next couple of chapters will make sense. Show me some love in the form of reviews.**

**Random observation – is it just me or does Doug Hutchinson look like the Verizon "Can you hear me now" guy?**


	11. Stay With Me

**Chapter 11 – Stay With Me**

"Get enough to eat?"

Anna kissed me as I pulled her closer as I stuck the key in the lock of my apartment and shoved the door open, "Yes. I was hungry and judging from what all you wolfed down, looked like you were hungry, too." I threw my keys on the counter as Anna took off the wet shirt she was wearing, leaving her in the camisole she had on under it. "When's the movie start?"

She checked her watch, "Seven. I'm gonna go change so we can go if you're still feeling up for it. I need to start a load of laundry and throw this shirt in before this tea ruins it. Be right back." Anna turned and kissed me again before she walked towards the back of our apartment to change so we could leave. The waitress at the restaurant had accidently spilled tea on Anna while we were there. She didn't have anything to change into, so she wore the tea soaked shirt while we were finishing our meal. The waitress apologized profusely for spilling the tea even though Anna wasn't mad. The manager came over and gave us our meal for free and apologized again before we left.

I heard Anna in the hallway starting the washing machine as I sat down on the couch and turned on the TV and started flipping through channels. I stopped on the Discovery Channel and started to watch something about penguins and the melting polar ice caps when my phone rang. "Griss?"

"Nick, listen. He's been in your house."

"Huh?" I was confused, "Who?"

"Nigel Crane. The stalker. Brass is on his way to your house now with two uniforms to post at your door. Where's Anna?"

"My apartment, why?" I peered out the window after hearing a noise outside my apartment. "Anna is here with me. She's getting changed and we're about to go see a movie. She had to change shirts or we would have gone straight to the movie from the restaurant." I twisted the rod on the mini blinds to close them, "Who's Nigel Crane and why is he after me?"

"Nigel Crane, the cable guy. Catherine and I just got done watching some tapes we found in the apartment where you got hurt. We went back to recheck it earlier tonight. He's obsessed with you. He's after you and Anna. He admitted on the tapes that he was the one that was behind the peanut butter on Anna's truck and he was the one that killed Audrey Malone and Jane Galloway and he was the one who shoved you out of that window. Both of you need to get out of the house, now. We're on our way there."

"I'll get her o…" My doorbell rang, interrupting me. "Hold on, Griss." I got up to answer the door, "Who is it?"

"Lawrence Pearson. You don't know me, but I worked with Mr. Grissom on the Jane Galloway case. I need to speak to you, please."

I opened the door and saw him standing on my front porch. He had his eyes closed and his hands in the air. It looked like he was a blind man trying to find something, "You answered. Good." He brushed past me and into my apartment and went straight into the kitchen, "I saw this apartment and the street name in my visions. Only, this is all wrong." He started to walk back in my living room and looked up, "It's the wrong angle. Raven Lane. Raven is a death bird. Dead bird, death lane." He went to the kitchen and started pacing back and forth, "This is all wrong. I need to be looking down at you. I saw everything in here, but it was like I was looking down at you from the ceiling, just like the death bird would be doing as he waited on you to die."

"Nick? Nick!" I looked down at the phone, realizing Grissom was still on the other end.

I brought the phone back up to my ear as I watched the psychic walking around in my kitchen, "Well, Anna and I aren't alone anymore."

"What? Nick, who's there with the two of you?"

"Your psychic is here."

"Green tea!" Lawrence turned to me, "I'm seeing green tea!" He moved towards my kitchen and picked up the kettle Anna had used to make tea a couple days ago, "You drink green tea!"

"What?" I was beginning to get tired of giving people a look of confusion all the time.

Lawrence held up the kettle, "Green tea. I saw green tea but it was getting hurt badly. Did you drink green tea?"

"How do you hurt green tea?" I shook my head and brought the phone back to my ear, "I don't drink green tea. Anna, my girlfriend, does." With Grissom still on the phone, I turned my attention back to him. "Sorry. He said he saw green tea and a dead bird in my apartment?"

"I don't know what that means but keep him there and you and Anna need to get out of there now. Nigel's nowhere to be found. We have uniforms at his house, but he's not there. We just saw the tapes. He's trying to become you and is going to kill Anna. He sees her as competition for your emotions. Brass already dispatched units to your apartment."

I turned around to see where Lawrence went, but my kitchen was empty. I shut the phone, but rather than putting it down, I kept it in my hand as I went to find Anna. Before I could get to our bedroom to check on her, a scream and then a single gunshot followed by the unmistakable sound of a body hitting the floor stopped me in my tracks as my blood ran ice cold, "God, no. Anna!"

I kicked the laundry basket that Anna left in the hall out of my way as I went in our bedroom where she was getting dressed. I saw her feet at the edge of the bed. She was lying on the floor between the bed and the wall, trying to get enough leverage with her feet to shove herself backwards from the man that shot her. She kept bending her knees and trying to shove off of the rug with her feet, but she couldn't do it. There was too much blood. Not having time to react properly, I realized I still had my phone in my hand and I threw it as hard as I could at him as he stared down at her. It hit him in the side of the head causing the phone to break apart and fall to the ground. He grabbed his head and looked down at the broken phone, "What the hell? That wasn't very nice." He rubbed the spot on his head as he faced me, "Oh, Nick! You're here." The man smiled at me as I looked at Anna who was on the ground and not moving. He made a step towards me, kicking part of my broken phone under the bed and out of his way.

"Anna!" I started to make a lunge for the man to knock him down and to check on Anna, but he stopped me. He pushed me backwards before I could get to her.

"Manners, Nick! Manners!" He turned to face Anna again as he rubbed the sore spot where my phone hit him. I couldn't see her well with him being in the way, "You want to see what I did just for you?" He moved out of the way and motioned for me to look at her, "See? Just for you. Consider this yet another gift from a friend." I started to move closer to her and saw that he had shot her in the right shoulder. She was dressed in the white camisole and the khaki skirt she had on from earlier. The shirt had a blood stain on it that was growing larger by the second from the gunshot. Anna realized I was in the room and I watched as tears formed in her eyes and fell down her cheeks as she groaned in pain. The man bent down to get a closer look at her. "Maybe next time you'll think twice before you come between my best friend and me. I already told you this once, but I'll repeat it again for you. Bros before hos, dear. Bros before hos." He raised the gun to shoot her again and I lunged at him, knocking him to the wall. He braced himself against the wall and shot Anna a second time after he shoved me off of him. She flinched and cried out in pain, "Try that again and I shoot her again. Got it?"

When the man knocked me back, he shoved me hard enough and I tripped and hit my head on the closet door. I touched the spot on the back of my head and when I saw my hand, it had blood on it. "Fine. Whatever you say. Just don't hurt her again."

"What are you trying to do? You're worried about her? I'm just trying to help you. Don't you see? This girl here is no good for you!" Anna coughed and tried to move her hand up to feel the second gunshot wound in her stomach but she couldn't get her hand up high enough. The man's attention was turned back to her when she groaned in pain again. He raised the gun to shoot at her but changed his mind, "Look at her, Nick. Look. You're so self absorbed. You and your life and that girlfriend of yours are the only things that matter to you. I'm taking care of her for you. She wouldn't die. No matter what I did, she wouldn't die." He looked down at Anna again, "But you're about to." He pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at Anna and it landed on her blood soaked skirt. "Guess you'll need this now." I looked over at what he threw and saw that it was Anna's red scene tag, "You use these to show you're hurt, right? Did I get that right? You give the red one to the person who is in charge of the scene?"

"Anna's scene tag?" I looked at the man in our room, "Where'd you get that?"

"From here of course, Nick. Where else? She left her helmet in your room and I got it. I figured it might come in handy one day."

I started to slowly move closer to Anna. The blood pool on the floor was getting larger. Anna didn't have that much time left and I had to get her medical help. The deranged man was holding us both hostage wasn't going to let me call anyone to help her. "Why'd you do this? Why try to kill her?" I looked at Anna as I moved closer to her. He didn't do anything to stop me from kneeling on the floor next to her. I put my hand on her shoulder, trying to stop the blood. Anna brought her left hand up to where my arm was. I felt as she wrapped her fingers around my arm and moaned in pain. "And who the hell are you?"

He turned around to face me, "What did you say?"

"Damn it, you heard me. You shot my girlfriend and I don't even know who you are or what you want!"

The man's face fell, "You don't know who I am? You don't remember me?" Anna coughed again and I heard her start to gag as she started to choke on her own blood. He turned around to face her, "Shut the hell up, bitch! This is your damn fault." He waved the gun at her. "YOU! YOU!" He stopped yelling at her long enough to look at me. He made a step towards me and I stood up and put myself between his line of sight and Anna. He pointed over at Anna, "This is why you can't remember me! It's her fault and we punish bad people, don't we?" He raised the gun at her again.

"Stop!" I held up my hands and folded them like I was praying and I was. I was praying and begging him not to shoot Anna again. I knew she didn't have much time left and I was trying to stall any way I could. "Please, man. Don't kill her. I'll give you whatever it is you want. Money, my truck, whatever it is you want, but please, just leave now. Go. Don't kill her."

A loud noise came from my living room. "What was that?" The deranged gunman left my bedroom and went towards the living room.

Seeing that as my cue, I kneeled down and picked Anna up again, holding her close to my body. "Anna. I'm so sorry." I brushed the blood soaked hair out of her eyes. "Please hang on. Please." I looked up at the door and the man was still gone. I heard the gunman fighting with someone up front. I turned my attention back to Anna. "Please don't die on me. I'm gonna call 911. Just hang on, please!" I knew Anna put her phone in the drawer when she got to my apartment so she wouldn't lose it. I opened the drawer and pulled her phone out and saw Anna's gun in there. He hadn't found it yet. I got it out of the drawer and put it on the floor underneath Anna where he couldn't see it. "Use this if you have to. Just keep it hidden. Keep it next to you. If something happens to me, use it if you need to if something else happens." She shook her head and started to cry again. "I'm not leaving you. I promise. If he comes back in here alone, use it." She closed her eyes and held on to my arm with her left hand as I dialed 911. I reached up on the bed and got a towel and held it over Anna's shoulder wound trying to stop the bleeding. "Anna, please hang on. Please. You can't leave me." I held the phone to my ear using my shoulder as I held the towel over Anna's shoulder wound. Two more gunshots interrupted my pleas for Anna to hang on as I waited on the 911 operator to answer.

"Las Vegas 911. What is the nature of your emergency?"

"1780 Raven Lane Apartment 8. My girlfriend has been shot and a deranged man is holding us hostage. This is Nick Stokes. I'm with the crime lab. Captain Jim Brass has…" I heard footsteps approaching and I threw the phone under the bed and out of sight and moved the gun under Anna's lower back where she was lying on top of it to keep it hidden while I held her. I hugged her tightly as the man came back in.

"You gotta watch who you let in here, Nick. That guy was snooping all over the place. He was almost as bad as her." He looked at me as I kept my hold on Anna. "So sweet. Touching really." He raised the gun and pointed at me. "Let her go, Nicky. Let her go or I'll shoot her again and this time, I won't just injure her."

I looked down Anna. I knew he'd kill her if I didn't do what he wanted me to do. She slowly nodded her head, letting me know she understood I had to leave her. I gently put her back on the ground in the pool of her own blood that was spreading across the carpet in my bedroom. I started to bend down to kiss her, but he stopped me by poking me in the neck with my own gun. She started to reach for something, but stopped and let her hand fall back to her side.

"Nick."

I turned my attention away from Anna. Her skin was fast losing color. The pool of blood I saw when I was holding her was slowly spreading behind her. She tried to move her hand again, but she was so weak, she couldn't do it. I watched helplessly as she coughed and gagged on her own blood. As her eyes were pleading with me to do something, I couldn't do anything except stand there and watch her die. I was helpless as the man held the gun on me. He looked back at Anna and pointed the gun at her again, "Nick Stokes. Leave. Now." He waved the gun over her body. "Leave now or I'll shoot her again. I've already killed that other guy up front. I can kill her while you watch or we can save her for later. Your choice."

Anna slowly nodded her head again and closed her eyes. She coughed once more and her body went still. The man looked over and kicked her foot. She didn't move. I started to cry, but held back my tears as he shoved the gun into my shoulder and pushed me out into the hallway. I tried to look at Anna once more, but the man being behind me shoving me with the gun prevented me from doing that. "Go." He pointed towards my living room. "She's dead. Nothing you can do for her until we do the autopsy on her later on."

"What?" I still didn't move. I saw an opportunity to catch him out off guard and I took it. "That's not my job. You should know that by now. That's a coroner's job."

"Don't patronize me, Nicholas." He shoved me again. "I said go damn you!"

He shoved me again and I got up and left Anna behind. We came back in the living room and I saw the pile of ceiling debris on my floor and Lawrence Pearson in the middle of it. He wasn't moving and the dark red blood on his jacket let me know he was dead. "Shot him, too?"

"Yes. I did." I was poked in my back once again as I slowly made my way to the couch and watched as the deranged gunman put the gun to the side of his face and rubbed his temples. "You get migraines too, I know you do." He shook his head. "That's why we're so perfect, Nick. You and I, we're like one and the same. You get migraines, and I get migraines." He held out his arms. "Look, we even wear the same clothes." He turned around to give me a full view of his outfit. "I picked it up from the dry cleaners along with Anna's uniform shirts. Those came in handy, didn't they?" He stopped to rub his temples again. "I think I'm getting a migraine now." He turned around and looked at the counter in my kitchen. "Mind if I get one of these?" He picked up one of the bottles I had left over from earlier after my trip to the hospital. He put the gun on the counter long enough to open the bottle and popped some pills in his mouth and picked up a cup Anna was using earlier for her tea, turned the water on in the sink to fill it and swallowed the pills. He threw the bottle on the ground and picked up the gun again and turned to me. "That'll help."

"You didn't have to shoot her. You could have let her go. Do you want to be responsible for Anna's death as well as this man's death?"

"Nick, Nick, Nick. I've already got that problem worked out. He was about as bad as that bitch girlfriend of yours. You know how many times I tried to hurt her? The shirt at the crime scene? The peanut butter?"

"That was you?" I started to stand up, but he pointed the gun at me. I sat back down. "You were the one that tried to kill her with the peanut butter? How the hell did you know she was allergic?"

"Her medical bracelet." He smiled as if he was proud of himself. "I saw it before and saw her allergies. I couldn't get my hand on any penicillin, but peanut butter is easy to come by. Any person can walk in the local store and pick up a jar. Best buck and a half I ever spent." He pointed towards Lawrence. "This guy was coming between us, so I got rid of him. Anna started pissing me off more and more. She was going to come between us, Nicholas. Don't you get that? I shot her because I'm your friend. How can we be friends if you spend all your free time with her? Huh? I mean think about it, Nick. She's always here. You're always there. How can we have any male bonding time over Texas football and basketball games and movies if Anna's always here with you?" He pulled one of the bar stools over and sat in front of me, still keeping the gun aimed at my chest.

"Have we met?"

He stared at me. "Sports package? 150 channels? I even threw in a couple movie channels for free."

It finally dawned on me who he was. "You're the guy who installed my cable."

"We connected. When you told me what you did, it made sense. I know I related to you that way. We talked like forever. It's like we've been friends forever. I tried to get rid of that girlfriend of yours twice already, but she's like a bad case of fungus. She won't go away. I left her uniform shirt at that crime scene and damn you, you got her out of it. I put the peanut butter on her truck door handle and damn it if she didn't run inside and save herself. I figured when you showed her the prom pictures that lady sent you after she saw what I did to make Jane Galloway look like your prom date, she'd get mad and leave you, but damn her, she didn't so I had to do something else. That's when I had to shoot her. It just hasn't been the same since your girlfriend came into our lives. Well, I took care of that too as she was going to totally come between us."

"I remember now. You and I talked about the crime scene photos I had spread out on the table."

"Bingo! You finally remember me! Now what's my name?" He pointed the gun at my head. "My name. What is it?"

I remembered what Grissom said on the phone earlier when he called me. "Nigel. Nigel Crane."

"Excellent! You do remember me! See, with that girlfriend of yours dead, you're able to think again for yourself."

"You do know the police are on their way, right?" I was hoping to scare him off. "They're on their way here. I was on the phone earlier."

"Yeah, I heard that." He used the end of the gun to open my blinds enough to look out. "We made friends that day and every time since then, you just blew me off. You blanked me. You didn't even recognize me when I came into your hospital room that day after I hurt you. Sorry about that, by the way. It was the only way I got through to you. You are so self absorbed. I was right in front of your face and you didn't notice. You basically tripped over me twice and did you recognize me? No. Manners! Manners, Nicky! Manners! We don't have much time left now do we?" He stood up. "Get up." I could hear that the police cars were getting closer as the sirens got louder, but they were still not close enough to help me. "I just don't know anymore. You only remembered me after all of this. What kind of friend are you?" He pointed the gun at me. I lunged at him, knocking him to the ground as he tripped over Lawrence's dead body. Nigel stumbled, but grabbed the gun as I stayed on the floor. "Manners, Nicky! Isn't that what Anna called you? Nicky? Mind if I call you that, too? I mean, now that she's plant food, someone has to call you that." He cleared his throat and aimed the gun at my head but dropped his arm to his side when he started laughing. "Poetic justice right now." Nigel was laughing harder. "This is poetic justice. You're about to die in the exact same place where you first told Anna you loved her. Your girlfriend is plant food and you're about to be turned into plant food and it's all in the exact place you said you loved her for the first time. Wow. How's that for irony? Can I pick the scenes or what?"

"How'd you know that? You weren't here. No one was here the day I gave her that necklace."

"Oh, I watched, Nick. I saw a lot. There are some video cameras in your apartment that I left behind after I installed your cable for you. One of them was aimed right here. I saw it all. Quite touching really." He raised his arm again and aimed the gun as I closed my eyes, praying it'd be quick. "This is because you're a bad friend."

"Anna, I love you and I'm sorry." My voice was barely above a whisper as I kept my eyes closed, knowing the kill shot was coming. All I could hope for was that it was quick and I wouldn't suffer.

My eyes were still closed when I heard a gunshot. I was startled by the noise, but I didn't feel anything. I heard another noise as a body hit the ground, but I knew it wasn't mine. I opened my eyes and blinked a few times as I tried to get my senses together as several more shots were fired.

The last shot fired startled me and as I flinched to get away from it, I felt my end table behind me. I looked down at my shirt and didn't see fresh blood. All I saw was Anna's blood from where I held her earlier before she died. I started trying to piece together what was going on as my senses slowly returned. I didn't think I was shot. I was beginning to think that death was a lot more peaceful than I thought when I finally started to focus. The first thing that I saw was that Nigel was dead. He was lying on top of Lawrence's body in the middle of my living room. The gun he used to shoot Anna was on the floor in front of him. In between tears falling from my eyes at the realization that Anna was dead and now I had to go on without her, I tried to see who it was that saved my life and I focused beyond the two bodies in my living room.

Still squinting as I tried to focus on the blurry form leaning against the wall, I gasped. I didn't believe it. Once I began to focus more clearly, I still couldn't believe it. It was Anna. She was holding her gun and still had it pointed in the direction of Nigel's dead body. She had saved my life. I got up and tripped over the ceiling debris as I started towards her, which wasn't the smartest thing I could have done since she had the gun, but I had to get her attention, "Anna? Honey?" As she leaned against the wall for support, her eyes were wild with fright and pain as she kept a careful watch for any movement in front of her. Her right shoulder was dripping blood from the gunshot wound and her right hand was over the injury to her lower abdomen while she stood still, never once taking her eyes off of Nigel. Her left arm was locked solid with the gun still pointed in his direction with her finger on the trigger, ready to pull it if need be.

I looked down and saw the blood pool forming on the carpet underneath where she was standing as she leaned against the wall for support as I called her name again, "Anna?" I slowly approached her, trying to get her attention. It wasn't until I said her name again that I saw the slightest movement in her eyes. She looked over at me as she started shaking as she tried to register what was going on before returning to her watch over Nigel's body. I didn't have the medical training Anna did, but I knew she was in shock from the blood loss, "Anna, it's okay. I promise. He's dead."

I watched and saw her eyes shift quickly towards my direction once more as she tried to take in everything, but she still didn't believe me that Nigel was dead. "Anna?" Her eyes moved from the scene in my living room and then back to my face again as she surveyed the room. Even after I had told her a few times Nigel was dead, it still didn't register with her that she was safe, "Anna? Give me the gun." I took a slow step towards her. She didn't move and remained poised to shoot again, "Please. He's dead. Anna?" I held out my hand and slowly put it on her shoulder. "Anna? Please?" She looked at my hand on her shoulder before she dropped the gun on the floor as her knees gave way and buckled underneath her, causing her to slide down the wall. I caught her before she fell to the ground and held her tightly as I used the wall in the hallway as a brace so I could pull her into my lap as I slid down the wall, out of sight from the scene in my living room.

Tears traced down my cheeks, "Oh, love, I'm so sorry." My t-shirt I was wearing immediately soaked up the blood still coming out of her shoulder and stomach wounds. I ripped the side of my shirt and held it on the wound on her stomach as I hugged her close to me. She started crying again as I held her tightly to me, rocking her gently as we waited on the police to get here. "I thought you were dead. Oh, God. I thought you died. When he kicked you, you didn't move."

Her voice was weak as she put her left hand on my arm and held on tightly to me. "I had to save you." She coughed again and brought her hand to the wound on her shoulder, "I knew…" She stopped and coughed again as the front door to my apartment burst open. I started to look up at the door, stopped when Anna started shaking as I held her. She started to choke and cough until she became still as her eyes closed and her hand fell off of my arm as I felt her body relax in my arms.

"Anna?" I tried to wake her up, but she wouldn't open her eyes, "No, no, no! Anna?" I kept shaking her as someone called out for me but I ignored them, my attention focused solely on Anna, "Anna? Oh, God! Anna!"

"Nick?" I heard Brass's voice as he called out to me from the living room of my apartment, "Damn it, Nick! Where are you?"

"Over here." I didn't want to move Anna any more than I had to. "We're over here." I shook Anna again, trying to wake her up, "Oh, God. Please wake up. Anna?" She gasped for air as her eyes finally opened, but she continued to shake.

Brass rounded the corner and saw me holding Anna as she fought to stay alive. He got down on one knee and brushed her hair out of her eyes, "Oh, shit." He looked at me with a fear I haven't ever seen before in his eyes. I knew what he thought, "An ambulance is outside." He shoved at one of the officers who had come up behind him, "Send them in. Scene is secure. Give them an escort. Carry them in if you have to." I looked down when I heard Anna saying something. She had her eyes focused on the ceiling, "What's she saying, Nick?" Brass leaned in closer trying to hear her voice.

"High there, how he rung upon the rein of a wimpling wing in his ecstasy…" Anna stopped and coughed, "Then off, off forth on a swing." Anna stopped and coughed again, but this time harder as she started gasping for air as she started to choke on her own blood. Her hand went to her neck as she started to grab at her own throat in an instinctual response to help herself breathe better.

"She's having problems breathing." Brass got up and turned to face another officer, "Where are the damn paramedics?"

I heard someone say they were outside. Brass yelled out to send them in. I stood up, picking Anna up with me. "No, we'll go outside. She doesn't have that much time." I cradled her in my arms as I stepped over the dead bodies of Lawrence and Nigel. As we passed, Anna tried to bury her face in my bloody shirt as we stepped outside.

Anna started reciting whatever it was she was saying earlier as I took her towards the ambulance that was waiting in the parking lot behind where my truck and Anna's truck was parked. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she continued to recite, "As a skate's heel sweeps smooth on a bow bend, the hurl and gliding rebuffed the big wind. My heart in hiding..." Anna coughed again as we got to the wall surrounding the courtyard of my apartment building. She started reciting again as I ran by a few police officers that were watching me while keeping the crowd back from in front of my building.

Outside, Gil and Warrick were helping to move the crowd out of the way as I carried Anna away from our nightmare and towards the ambulance. I didn't pay any attention to them and instead focused on Anna as we made our way towards where the medics were with the two of them running in front of us to clear a path. Warrick shoved someone out of the way so I could make the last few steps to the medics. I tried to put her on the stretcher, but Anna stopped reciting whatever it was she was saying as her body went rigid and she started to shake again as she reached for my neck and wouldn't let go.

"Anna." Her grip tightened, "Anna, look at me." She started crying again and was refusing to let me go, "Anna!" I put my hands on her cheeks and stood in her line of sight so she'd have to focus on me, "Anna." I kept saying her name until I saw her connect with me, "It's okay. I'm here. I'm just putting you down on the stretcher." She still wouldn't let go as she continued to hold on to me tightly with her left arm, "It's the paramedics. They're taking us to the hospital. It's okay. I'm not leaving you." I could only imagine what she was thinking as I tried to put her down, "Anna, please let them help you. I'm not leaving you. I promise but you've got to let me go so they can help you." She finally looked up at me again, "Anna?" I felt her left arm loosen around my neck as it dropped to her side as she cried even harder. The two medics strapped her in as I reached for her hand and felt her hand tighten around mine. One of the medics came around to my side of her and knocked my hand out of her grip.

"Let's go." He yelled to his partner who went ahead of him to open the doors. He turned to me. "Desert Palms. Meet us there."

"NO!" Anna started to yell. "GOD DAMN IT ALL! NO!" She started to cough again, "He comes with me, damn it." She coughed and again started to choke on her own blood as she picked her left arm up off the gurney, trying to find me, "Nicky?" She tried to get up to look for me, but couldn't.

"I'm here." I held mine out and she grabbed on to it, refusing to let it go. I moved over in front of her where she could see me. "I'm right here."

"He comes with me, damn it." She coughed again and gripped my hand tighter, refusing to let go of the lifeline between us as I heard her start in again on the reciting, "Stirred for a bird, the achieve of the mastery of the thing."

I looked at the medic who swapped sides with me so I could be on her left side as I held her hand, "Do you know what she's saying?" I said no as the medic leaned in closer to her to hear, but she stopped again when she started to choke and gasp. We shoved the gurney towards the ambulance as the other medic helped load her in. The medic driving slammed the back door and jumped in the front seat.

Anna started to fight what the medic was trying to do to her. "Nick?" She tried to get up but couldn't because she was strapped to a backboard, "Nicky?" She started trying to find the ends of the straps to undo them herself and got one of the buckles flipped up and started to pull the strap out. "Help me up. I have to go home."

I took her hand away from the straps and held it in mine, "Right here." I kissed the top of her hand as she fought, "I'm right here and I can't help you up." I was sitting beside her on the bench, watching as she was being treated by the medic in the back of the ambulance. He stuck an IV in her hand which caused her to flinch. He hooked a bag of fluids up to her IV and hung it up over the gurney. Her eyes focused on me and her grip on my hand tightened as she kept trying to kick her legs as she fought more to get out of the restraints. "Anna, please stop. He's trying to help you." She wasn't listening to me and she continued to fight.

"She's probably going into severe shock from the blood loss. She got any allergies?"

"Peanuts and penicillin." I looked at Anna, wild eyed and frightened and in obvious pain, "Just peanuts and penicillin."

The medic reached up to a bin and got clear bottle out of the cabinet behind him. He stuck a needle in the vial and drew up some of the liquid from the bottle. He picked up the IV tubing and pushed the plunger in. Anna's grip loosened on my hand as her eyelids fluttered and finally closed. "Nicky, I…" Her voice faded off as she became still.

"Sorry, but I had to sedate her so she'd quit moving and so I can intubate her to help her breathing. I don't know where the bullets are and if they're somewhere near a major artery, one of them could hit that and she would bleed out and die. You ever figure out what she was saying?"

"No." I used the back of my hand to wipe tears out of my eyes. "No. I didn't." I watched as the medic started to intubate Anna. When he got the tube in her throat, her eyes opened about halfway. "She's awake. Anna? Can you hear me?"

He pulled the guide wire out of the tube and attached the ambu bag to it, "She's not awake." He and I watched as Anna's eyes fluttered shut as he started to help her breathe. "It's a reflex. She's still sedated."

The ambulance finally pulled into the hospital parking lot and though it felt like several hours, I knew it was less than five minutes. The medic driving got out and the back door flew open as he pulled the stretcher out. I got out and the medic in the back of the ambulance got out behind me as both of them sprinted into the hospital, pushing Anna on the gurney. An emergency room doctor and some nurses came running up and grabbed the gurney at the end of it where Anna's feet were. It was then that I finally noticed she was only wearing one sandal. "Thirty two year old white female, double GSW. One in the upper right shoulder, one in the lower right abdomen. No exit wounds with major blood loss and severe shock. Large bore IV started with saline bolus, intubated in the field, administered O2 by ET tube and point five of Haldol in the field. She was combative."

I listened as he finished telling the staff about her vital signs as they shoved her into one of the trauma bays in the ED. "You can't go in." A nurse shoved me back as the double doors to the trauma room shut. I stood and watched until someone else came over and shut the blinds, unsure what to do or think as they blocked the view I had as they were working feverishly to save Anna's life. The sounds of people shouting orders became indistinct to me as I tried to listen in.

"Nick?"

I turned around and saw Sara standing behind me with Grissom next to her. I just looked at them and shook my head and turned to face the trauma room. I started to say something, but I couldn't. I just stared at the concrete wall separating me from the woman I loved, hoping and praying to God that she'd be okay. I couldn't stand up anymore and let myself slide down the wall until I was on the linoleum floor as I heard the shouts behind the wall.

"We're losing her."

I stood up quickly and stared at the window. At the sound of those words, my blood drained out of my face and wave after wave of nausea washed over my body.

"Damn it, she's crashing. Clamps. Now!" Someone else was shouting orders in the room. I felt my knees begin to give out and I slid down the wall again.

"Paddles. Now! Charge to 150 and push the epinephrine."

I continued to listen to the sounds coming from the trauma room. I was unable and unwilling to leave. "Again. Hit it again. 200." Something metal crashed to the floor as another person yelled out that she was back.

"Get more blood. Type, cross and match at least six units and let's get her upstairs now or she won't be around much longer."

The nausea continued to wash over me as I heard someone shout out more orders. "OR 2. Get the surgeons in there now. She doesn't have that much time left. Now go! We're on our way as soon as this bleeder is clamped off." I brought my knees to my chest and rested my head on my knees as I started to cry again.

Grissom moved beside me and sat on my left side, while Sara moved and sat on the ground on my right and began to pull gloves out of her field kit. "Nick, I know this is a bad time and all, but…" Sara faded off, "We um, we…well, we need to…process you."

I looked down at my blood soaked t-shirt and jeans. I ran my fingers across my chest and felt the wetness of Anna's blood that had soaked into my shirt. "Can we wait? Please? I just want to wait until the doctors come out and let me know how she's doing. Please? Stand here and watch me or I'll strip butt naked here. I don't care, but please, this wall being between us is bad enough." I turned to face Sara, still pleading, "I don't want to leave her. Please, don't make me leave her alone. She didn't leave me when I was here after I got hurt. I'm not leaving her."

Sara looked at Grissom who said that was okay, "Fine, but Nick, after they do, we have to do this."

I closed my eyes and leaned my head back against the concrete wall as I listened inside the trauma room at the sounds of the doctors and nurses trying to keep Anna alive. I still had my eyes shut when the doors opened and a rush of air blew past me as two nurses and a doctor ran by me, running to the stairs on the opposite side of the hallway. They pulled the door open and I watched as they took the stairs two at a time as they went upstairs to the OR. "Nick Stokes?" I turned around to see where the sound came from and saw a doctor coming out of the trauma room.

"Yeah, that's me." I braced myself against the wall as I stood up, "How's Anna? Where is she?" I looked over his shoulders at the now empty trauma room before the doors shut, "What's going on?"

The doctor motioned for me to follow him, "My name is Dr. Lincoln Ryan. I treated Anna. Come with me." He led me away from the ED and into a private waiting room off of a hallway in the opposite direction of where the stairs were with Grissom and Sara following Dr. Ryan and me into the room, "Can you two step outside, please?"

"No, they can stay. I don't care who stays. Just tell me, how is she?"

"As you wish. Anna's on her way upstairs now to the OR. One of the bullets entered in the upper right shoulder, breaking her clavicle and causing some muscle and tendon damage. The second bullet entered in her lower right quadrant and that's the one we're concerned about. I can't see in to see the damage done by that bullet. She had massive amounts of blood loss with some tissue and tendon damage. I set the bone in her shoulder as best as I could down here and we managed to get the blood loss slowed down long enough to get her upstairs for surgery. That's where she's going now." He put the clipboard under his arm as he folded his arms across his chest, "She got lucky in one aspect tonight. I'm one of the orthopedic surgeons here. I'm not normally down here in the ED, but tonight I was. I'm not going to lie to you. She's critical. Very critical. It's possible she won't survive the surgery. Anna is very weak and has lost a tremendous amount of blood from the injuries sustained. I have no idea why she's still alive right now, but she is. She shouldn't be. People with that much blood loss don't live, but Anna is alive so she's got that going for her. We gave her a transfusion in the trauma room and her vital signs improved, but they dropped again shortly after and she coded while she was down here. We got her back and got her stable enough to take her up to the OR to repair the internal damage."

I felt the blood drain out of my body as the room began to spin once again. I felt someone lead me over to a chair and I sat down, "What? You mean, she could…" I couldn't even say the word. A lump formed in my throat as more tears made their way down my cheeks and down to the linoleum under my feet.

Dr. Ryan sat down next to me while Gil and Sara stood a few feet away. "Yes. She could die. Dr. Nathan Hoyt is who is going to be doing her surgery. If anything happened to me, I'd want him on my side. The doctors here are going to do all they can to save her life. You have my word on that but if she has family, now's a good time to call them. Get them here as quickly as possible."

"Her family's in Arkansas. They'd never make it." I remembered her telling me it was about a day's drive from where they were to here. "Bryan." My stomach lurched at the thought of calling Bryan to tell him what was going on, "I need to call Bryan. He's Anna's best friend and might as well be her brother." Dr. Ryan said he'd keep us updated as the night wore on, but told us to go up to the second floor to the OR waiting room and he'd let the surgeons know where to find me. He left me alone in the silent room, with nothing around me to take my thoughts off the fact my Anna may die. "I, uh, I broke my phone. I need to borrow one." Sara handed me her phone and told me to call him. For some reason, I remembered Bryan's number off the top of my head for the first time since Anna gave it to me just in case I ever needed him. I punched in the numbers and hit send.

"Hello?"

"Bryan?"

"Yah?"

"Bryan, this is Nick."

"Oh hey, CSI Man. Didn't recognize the number. I was just…"

I cut him off, "Bryan, you need to come down to Desert Palms. It's Anna. She's, oh God…" I closed my eyes as I tried to force my voice to work right.

"Nick, what's wrong with Aggie?"

I took a deep breath and hoped I could get this out, "Bryan, she's been shot."

"What?" I heard a noise as he apparently dropped the phone and again as he picked it back up again, "Aggie? My Aggie? No, no." I heard him start to gasp on the other end of the line as he started to panic, "Nick, no. Not Aggie. Oh, God no." Bryan let out a sob as he was taking in what I had told him, "No, she can't be. Not my Aggie. She's fine, right? Cathy's upstairs working in the ICU. She didn't call me. Shot? Where? What's going on?"

I could feel the tears coming back again, so I handed the phone back to Sara so she could explain who she was and what happened at my apartment. I listened to her side of the story as she told him where we were and he needed to get down here quickly. She ended the phone call and put the phone back in her pocket after telling me he was on his way down here and that he'd call Anna's parents and sister.

Grissom and Sara helped me stand up and we walked in silence to the elevator and got in. Sara pushed the button to the floor we needed and the doors closed and I felt the elevator shake as it started its journey up. The doors opened and we were greeted by a nurses' station. Sara approached the station as Grissom stayed with me. I was bewildered and still in a trance, not really caring what was going on, but Grissom explained it to me, "She's asking for some scrubs and a private room. We still need to process you."

My mind was blank. I could hear the words he said to me, but I couldn't process them. Grissom might have well been speaking Russian to me. I just nodded, but I didn't understand what he said. I couldn't process it. Sara came back a moment later and handed Grissom a set of green scrubs. "We can use one of the pre-op areas. Over there." Sara pointed as she led both of us to a small room off to one side of the waiting room. "Nick, I told the nurse at the desk we'd be in here. She said she'd come get us as soon as she had news." Sara pulled the blinds down across the windows and turned the lights on.

I just stood there, unsure if my voice would even work. I took a seat on a gurney in the middle of the room as Sara got her camera out and started taking pictures of my shirt, my pants and my injuries on my arm. "I need your clothes, Nick." She handed me the green scrubs Grissom was holding. "I'll go find you some shoes to wear while you change." Sara left the room as Grissom moved some partitions in front of the doors to give me some privacy.

I peeled my blood soaked shirt off and handed it to him and he put it in a paper sack. He sealed the top and signed it and tossed it into a plastic bin behind him. I took off my shoes and jeans and he put them into bags also. Grissom took some photos of my body and told me I could clean up while he finished. I turned around and saw a sink against a wall. Almost robotic, I turned the water on and let it heat up before I took a rag and started to wipe Anna's blood off of my arms.

The tears started to flow out of my eyes again as one by one, each swipe of the rag took more and more blood off of my body. I finished up and Grissom handed a towel. I dried off then put on the green scrubs and tightened the waist drawstring. He moved the partition out of the way and I could see Sara was outside with Warrick, Catherine, Greg, Jim, about ten LVFD members and some police officers waiting on any news about Anna. I tried looking over at them, but I couldn't. At the sight of them standing outside in the hall, waiting just like I was for any news about Anna, I started to cry again. I pulled the gurney back over and went to lie back. I sighed and put my head back on the pillow of the gurney and tried to hold off the tears, but had no luck. "Why?" My fists began to tighten as rage washed over my body. I could feel my face getting hot as the blood boiled inside my body. "Why?"

"I wish I could answer that." Grissom stopped writing to look at me, "I don't think we'll ever know why he chose you or why he felt a need to harm Anna. From what we saw on the tapes, he was trying to become you. He idolized you. Jane Galloway was someone he could control. You were someone he could become. He couldn't do that with Anna alive or with you alive for that matter."

"She was repeating something. Sounded like song lyrics. I don't know what it was. I've never heard it."

"What did it sound like she was saying?"

I closed my eyes as I tried to remember the words. "I think she was saying 'high up there, on the reins of a wing in ecstasy.' She stopped and coughed, then I think it was 'over on a swing as the hill stops' or something like that and then she stopped again."

"The Windhover?"

"Who's that?"

"It's a poem." Grissom pulled his reading glasses off and put them on the counter next to the sink, "What she was reciting was probably what she was concentrating on to keep herself conscious. Reciting the poem kept her brain busy enough to fight off the natural urge to slip into unconsciousness so the body could protect itself. Reciting was what she was doing to stay conscious. Otherwise, she would have probably given into her brain telling her body to shut down and it's doubtful she would have woken up."

I heard a soft knock at door as Sara let Greg, Warrick and Catherine in the room where I was. Jim stayed out in the other room, talking to the LVFD members and the officers that were out there.

"Any news yet?" She held out a pair of black Crocs towards me, "These were all I could find. I hope they fit. The socks are inside."

I took the shoes from Sara and tossed them on the floor after I got the socks out. "Thank you and no. Nothing yet on Anna."

I wasn't in a talking mood so I closed my eyes tightly, hoping to choke off the tears that were flowing so freely down my face.

Nearly two hours passed by before a nurse knocked, "Mr. Stokes?"

At the sound of my name, I shot up and jumped off the gurney, sending it crashing into the wall behind me, knocking something off a shelf beside where the gurney hit, "Anna? How's Anna?"

"Do you want them to leave?"

I shook my head, "God damn it, just tell me."

She looked shocked after I spoke to her like that and in any other situation, I wouldn't have been so rude, "Doctors are about to be finished up on Anna. There was some tendon and muscle damage from the bullet wound to her shoulder and she's going to need at least one more surgery for that. The bullet broke her clavicle on her right side. The ED doc set that downstairs and the surgeon checked it while he was repairing the tendon damage to her shoulder. Her stomach wound was the one we were concerned about. The surgeon got the bleeding stopped and repaired the damaged muscles of her abdomen caused by the bullet wound, but the prognosis looks guarded, but good. She got another blood transfusion in the OR and they're closing her up and about to move her into recovery. All in all, she got lucky considering what happened. A few centimeters in either direction on either wound and she'd be dead. You can go see her within the hour. I'll come get you when she is able to have visitors. Just be careful please, and don't stay too long. She needs her rest and she's still going to be groggy from the anesthesia."

I watched as Grissom got his ID out of his pocket, "Gil Grissom, Las Vegas Crime Lab. We're going to need those bullets once they're extracted from her body."

"No problem. I'll tell the surgeon when I go back in and we'll get them to you when we're done." The nurse looked at me, "I'll come get you in a little bit and if anything changes, I'll let you know."

I was still trying to take in what the nurse had just told me, "Anna's okay? She's going to be okay?" The nurse said she was going to be and left the room after telling me she'd come get me when Anna's out of surgery.

"Nick?"

I turned around to see who was calling me, "Bryan."

He came in the room and hugged me before he stepped back and wiped tears out of his eyes, "I just talked to Cathy. She's in the ICU tonight and said she'd let me know when Aggie gets moved to a room. She hasn't heard anything. Have you?"

"Yeah, the nurse just came in here and said she'd be moved in about an hour or so. Anna has some muscle damage and a broken collar bone I think. Oh, Bryan Brooks, this is the rest of my team. You know Gil Grissom and Catherine Willows and this is Sara Sidle, Greg Sanders and Warrick Brown."

"Nice to meet all of you. Just wish it was under better circumstances." He saw the growing crowd of fire department personnel in the waiting room outside, "Listen, I'm gonna go tell the guys outside and go find Cathy and tell her the news. I'll be back in a bit."

"Bryan?" He turned back around, "Anna was reciting a poem after she got shot. Grissom said it was called 'The Windhover.' Does that mean something to you or to her? She's never mentioned it to me."

I could tell that I caught him off guard, "Wow. That's one I haven't heard in a while. Yeah, her mother used to recite that poem to her in French or sing Caledonia to her as a kid whenever Aggie got scared or hurt. They've both always been her favorites."

As Bryan left, Sara pulled the gurney back over and put it between the curtains hanging from the wall. She led me over to the bed and as I went to lie down, I felt better knowing Anna would be okay, but knowing we had a long way to go until she was better.

"Nick, you do know you can't go back to your apartment, right?"

I turned around to face Catherine, "What?"

She came and sat beside me on the gurney. "Your apartment. You can't go back. If you need something like clothes or a toothbrush, I'll send Jim or one of the officers back, but you can't go back. It's going to be a while before we finish processing it."

"I don't care." My mind went blank as I was still thinking about Anna, "I don't even know what I need anymore. The only thing I need right now is Anna."

Catherine held onto my hand. "Change of clothes? Shoes? Does Anna need anything?"

"Her iPod for sure. She's always got it on and I know she'll want it up here when she wakes up. Her iPod is in my truck and the docking station is in our room. She'll probably also need her phone. All her numbers are in that. It's under the bed in our room. I used it to call 911 when…" I couldn't finish the sentence. "When Nigel left when the ceiling collapsed after Lawrence fell through it."

"Mr. Stokes?"

I turned around to face another lady wearing surgical scrubs, "Yes. Are you here about Anna? Is she in recovery?"

She shook her head, "I'm afraid I don't know that." She handed me a plastic bag. "These are Ms. Gigandet's personal items from when she was brought in downstairs. Watch, necklace, earrings and the contents of her skirt pockets. Looks like a tube of Burt's Bees, her keys and sunglasses."

I took the plastic bag from her and thanked her as she left the room. I held the bag up and shifted the contents inside as I moved the bag around in my hands. The silver Tiffany heart necklace that I got Anna for her birthday was at the bottom of the bag, covered in dried blood, "I got this for her birthday last month. She never took it off."

"Nick, we need her belongings. We just need to inventory everything, do some swabs and pictures and we'll get everything back to you as soon as we can and if you want, we'll get the blood off the necklace and jewelry before we give it back." I said okay and handed Catherine the bag and she handed it off to Greg, "Process this ASAP so we can get it back to them. Warrick, take the clothes and shoes of Nick's and go. Sara, check with the ED and get Anna's clothes and start in on the stuff we got from the apartment. Ecklie will be by later with more from the apartment as soon as they're finished there. We'll meet you at the lab in a bit."

As they left, the three of them expressed their sympathies on Anna's health and said they'd be keeping her in their thoughts.

"Nick, I'll bring your truck and Anna's iPod back up here in just a bit. I can call Sam and get you a hotel room at the Tangiers if you want one. It's behind the hospital. You'd still be close to Anna and you'd have a place to shower and get some sleep."

It took me a minute to register what she was saying to me. My mind was going in a thousand different directions at once. I finally realized she was trying to get me a place to stay, "Thank you."

Catherine left the room to go make the arrangements. I looked at Grissom. "What am I supposed to do now?"

"Be there for Anna. She's on her way to recovery and she's going to need you now more than ever. I know you're going to need some time off for yourself and for Anna. Take all that you need. I'll clear it with Ecklie."

"How'd she do that?"

Grissom looked confused, "How'd who do what?"

"Anna." I looked back over my shoulders after hearing a noise outside before I continued, "Nigel shot her twice. She was bleeding badly, but she got up. She shot him and saved me. She could barely lift her arm up when I was in there, but she got up and shot him? How'd she do that?"

"Nick, you remember that case from last year with the guy that crashed into that burger place? Remember him? He had the stake in his head."

"Yeah, yeah. That guy. Shed blew up or something, right?" I started to remember what Grissom was talking about. He and I worked a case where a guy in a Jeep crashed his truck into a drive thru window at a restaurant. When we got there, he was still alive, but he had a wooden stake sticking out of his head.

"Him. Yes." Grissom pulled a chair closer to the gurney I was on and sat down, "He had that stake driven so far into his head, he shouldn't have been able to breathe, let alone drive to try to get help. The basic reflex functions were still there which is how he was able to drive, but couldn't do much else. If I had to guess, it was kind of same thing with Anna. She knew she had to save you, so she did. It was a natural reflex for her to save your life, so she did. She found a way to."

Grissom stayed with me for another half hour until a nurse came to get me to let me know Anna was in recovery. Catherine brought me a room key to the room at the Tangiers. "Room 445. If you need anything, just call the front desk or call Sam. You're a VIP, so they'll take care of you and I'll bring your truck and the iPod back as soon as I get to your apartment to get them."

"Thanks, Cath." As I stuck the card key in the pocket of the scrubs I was wearing, I started walking with the nurse as she led me into the recovery room. She left the room and brought in a plastic chair and put it beside Anna's bed. I sat down, staring at Anna. Tubes and wires were coming out from her body and were connected to monitors on the wall. She was still sedated, but her coloring had started to return to her face.

"Nick?"

"Bryan." I got up and he pulled me into a hug, "She just got out of surgery." I wiped a tear out of my eye with the back of my hand. "She, uh…She had some blood loss and a broken clavicle and some muscle damage to her abdomen and they had to take out her gall bladder and repair a laceration to her kidney. They told me that her condition is guarded but good I think was how they worded it." I took my seat back in the hard plastic chair as I picked up Anna's left hand in mine. She had an IV in the top of her hand and keeping my distance from the needle in her hand, I curled her fingers around mine and started to cry again, "Docs says she's gonna be okay."

Bryan stood behind me and looked at Anna. He brought his hands up to his face to cover his eyes as he turned around and sighed, trying to cover up a sob. "Oh, God, Aggie." He wiped a tear out of his eyes as he came to the side of the bed. He still had his left hand across his forehead. After staring at her for a moment, he dropped his hand and reached forward and touched the bruise on her face gently with his fingers. "Damn it. You're my best friend and I love you and you better not leave me." He leaned in close to her, "We save lives, dammit. Remember that." He whispered something in her ear that I didn't catch and kissed her on the cheek.

I noticed as Bryan sat on the edge of Anna's bed that someone had pulled her hair into a pony tail to get it out of the way. I got a better look at the bruise that had formed on the side of her face. "Did he hit her?" Bryan turned to look at me and looked upset about the bruise, "The gunshots I get, but the bruise? He didn't, um…you know, um…did he?"

I knew what he was trying to ask, "No, no. There was no way. He didn't have enough time. I heard Anna scream and I was in the room in less than ten seconds. I think it was from where she fell. When I heard the scream and the shot, I came into the room and found her on her side. The shooter rolled her to her back so she could look at him. The bruise was probably where she fell."

"My wife's already in the ICU waiting on Anna to be transferred from recovery. I'll let you stay back here with her so they don't kick us both out. We're not supposed to be back here in recovery but they made an exception for us and I don't want to jinx that. Stay with her, Nick. She doesn't need to be alone."

After promising Bryan I wouldn't leave her, he left the room and left me alone to cry once more over what happened. In the midst of my tears, I managed to pray that Anna would make it through all of this as I started to sing the same song she sung to me when I was in the hospital a few weeks earlier, _'Let me tell you that I love you, that I think about you all the time. Caledonia, you're calling me, now I'm going home. But if I should become a stranger, know that it would make me more than sad. Caledonia's been everything I've ever had.'_

**A/N: And another cliffie! Will Anna live? Will Anna die? Will Nigel come back from the dead? Ok, that one I can answer for you – he's dead. Toast. Deceased. Bought a farm. Ceased to exist. Slipped into a displaced state of being. Plant food. Isn't in the union anymore. This isn't sci-fi nor is it All My Children. Once you're dead, you stay dead. And yes, I know that he didn't die on the show. I changed it, so no flames. This is why we call it fanFICTION! I didn't like the way Stalker ended so I changed it.**

**I don't think they ever said Nick's address during this episode, so I made it up.**

**Reviews, please. Pretty please?**


	12. It'll End in Tears

**Chapter 12 – It'll End in Tears**

**This is another example of how I get to make my own rules in fiction. I know the songs that are in parts of this story weren't released back then according to the CSI season episode guide, but I just made them released.**

Sitting in Anna's hospital room, waiting on her to wake up from her surgery, the room was quiet except for the occasional beeps on the monitors next to her bed or her IV pump chirping when it administered another dose of pain medication.

After half an hour of silence, I got tired of hearing the same chirp every few minutes and hooked Anna's iPod up to the docking station. I knew after Anna woke up from the anesthesia, she'd want her iPod. I had Catherine go back to my apartment to get it out of my truck as well as some clothes for me and a few items I knew Anna would need. Sara brought my truck and Anna's iPod and told me Catherine would be by later with a change of clothes for me after Ecklie went through them to make sure the lab didn't need to process everything first. Anna had her iPod on a lot and I knew how much she loved music and hearing it playing in the background was as comforting to her as it was to me. I wasn't paying much attention to the songs that were playing, but one that came on caught my attention during another lull in the room. I had heard Anna singing it not too long ago. I closed my eyes as I remembered we heard this song together on our first date heading into Las Vegas from Summerlin. As she was sleeping in the bed next to me, I picked up one of her hands and kissed the top of it as I listened to the words of the song.

" _And God, I hope it's not too late. It's not too late, 'cause you are not alone and I am always there with you and we'll get lost together till the light comes pouring through."_

I kept my eyes closed as the rest of the song played softly in the background as I remembered the first date we had and Anna singing along with that song on the way back from Summerlin.

"Hey Nicky."

I turned around in my chair and saw Catherine behind me, "Hey." She came in Anna's room and set a bag on the floor behind the chair I was sitting in before she put her arms around my shoulders as I kept my vigil next to Anna.

"Has Anna woken up yet?"

I shook my head, "No." Letting out a heavy sigh, I continued to watch Anna sleep. "She's still out from the surgery. Did you bring my clothes?"

Catherine motioned to the bag on the floor, "I brought what you told me. I also found Anna's iPod in your truck like you said and sent it back with Sara when she dropped off your truck. Anna's docking station was bagged and is now in evidence, so I had Sara go by my house and told her to get Lindsey's. I see Sara dropped it off for me."

"She did about twenty minutes ago. You just missed her and thanks for letting us use Lindsey's docking station. Anna's always got that thing on whenever she's at home and I figured she'd appreciate it being brought up here." I stretched in the chair, trying to alleviate the cramps that were taking over the muscles in my back.

Catherine got another chair and sat down beside me, "Why don't you go to the hotel room? Change and take a shower. I'll stay here with Anna and if anything happens, I'll call you." Catherine looked at me from where she was sitting as I started to debate mentally whether or not to go, "Go, Nick. You're less than a block away. You'll be here in no time if need be. I'll stay here. I won't leave her alone. I promise."

"Cath, I don't have a phone."

She reached in her pocket, "Here, take my phone. Grissom said he'd be by later with a new phone for you. I know you haven't had a chance to get a new one after you broke yours and Anna's is still in evidence. I could only talk Ecklie out of giving me the memory card with the phone numbers on it. I promise you I'll call you if anything happens."

"The surgeon told me when Anna was brought in the ICU room earlier that she probably wouldn't wake up for another couple hours. Her surgery was pretty extensive." I checked my watch to see if I had enough time, "Call me if anything happens, no matter how insignificant it is." I took Catherine's phone and got up from the chair and told her thanks and that I'd be back within an hour.

I left the hospital and went to the hotel room Catherine got for me. I threw the bag on the bed and stepped in the shower after leaving the phone on the counter in the bathroom so I'd be able to hear it if Catherine tried to call me. I was in the shower letting the hot water run down my body for about thirty minutes, trying to relax the cramping muscles in my back when I heard the phone ring. I turned the water off and found a towel and wrapped it around me as I hurried to get the phone. "Cath? What's wrong?"

"We've got a little problem. Anna is awake."

"Damn." I got another towel off the rack next to the bathtub and started to dry off my hands and hair. "What's wrong?" I threw the towel down on the floor in frustration when Catherine remained silent, "Cath? What's wrong with Anna?"

"She's upset. She keeps saying, well, typing really, that she wants you. She tried to talk, but can't because of the trach tube. She won't calm down and your friend Cathy is afraid she's about to pop a stitch. She's in with Anna now trying to calm her down but she won't listen to anyone. She wants you."

"Typing?" I started towards the bed where I threw the bag Catherine got me. I unzipped it and dumped it over as I started going through the pile of clothes looking for underclothes.

"Greg's here with me. He stopped by to check on Anna and take her statement if she was awake. Anna woke up and saw us here and she was really upset when she didn't see you here in the room with her and she took out her own trach tube but can't talk and kept making typing motions with her left hand, so Greg gave her his BlackBerry. The first thing she typed out was 'Where's Nicky?' Greg told her that you were fine and that you had just left to go change and he and I needed to ask her some questions and she typed out 'I don't care. I want him here now.' Greg tried to tell her that you were okay and reason with her but she kept tapping the 'I don't care' part of her message on the screen with her fingernails. I told her I'd call you. Nurses had to come in and give her a dose of medication to calm her down. Her rates spiked."

"They told me it'd be another couple hours before the anesthesia wore off enough for her to wake up. Tell her I'll be there in 10 minutes." I threw the phone down on the bed and I tossed the towel in the corner of the room as I started to put on a pair of pants I dug out from the pile. I grabbed the first shirt I saw and threw it over my shoulder and grabbing Catherine's phone and my keys in one hand, I grabbed my shoes and socks in the other and walked barefoot and bare-chested towards the elevator. I pushed the button and put the shirt on while I was waiting on the doors to open. I had time to put both of my socks and one shoe on before the doors opened. I got the other shoe on in the elevator and impatiently waited on the doors to open on the ground floor so I could make a mad dash for the hospital and check on Anna.

The elevators at the hospital were equally as slow. When the doors finally opened on Anna's floor, I broke out in a sprint and headed towards Anna's room. I made the final turn and the security officer saw me coming and buzzed me in to the ICU. As the doors opened, I saw Catherine outside of Anna's room with Greg standing behind her. "What happened?" I shoved Greg causing him to lose his balance on a chair behind him, "Why'd you upset her like that?"

"Stop. Both of you." Catherine stood between the two of us. "Enough." I tried to shove Greg again, but with Catherine in the way, I couldn't reach, "Back off, Nick."

"If you hurt her…" I glared at Greg. "So help me, Greg. If you hurt her…"

Catherine shoved me back a step and pushed Greg back until he was seated in one of the chairs outside Anna's room. "Anna woke up in a daze from the surgery and didn't see you and she panicked. Nick, she was probably thinking something happened to you when she woke up and you weren't here and we were here to give her bad news. I tried talking to her, but she wouldn't listen. She kept tapping the screen with her fingernails pointing to the message and then she started crying. She also pulled the trach tube out on her own before she threw Greg's phone at him. Cathy and Anna's surgeon are in with her now making sure everything is okay. You got a stubborn girlfriend, Nicky."

Dr. Hoyt and Cathy came out a little bit later and told us we could go in, but if we upset Anna again, we'd all be thrown out of the hospital. I went into her room with Catherine and Greg following me. As soon as they saw she was okay, they stayed out in the hallway for me to have some private time with her before they started the questioning. "Anna?" I sat down on the bed in Anna's line of sight. She saw me and started crying, "I'm here. I haven't left your side since you got out of surgery. The doctors told me you'd be out for another couple of hours, so I left to go to the room Catherine got me at the Tangiers. I needed to change my clothes and shower. I thought I had enough time, but you woke up too quickly. You're just defying everyone." Anna tried to say something but couldn't. She made a motion with her left hand like she was typing. "Hold on." I left the room and stepped outside in the hall where Catherine and Greg were. Greg saw me come out of Anna's room and stepped back out of my reach. "I'm not gonna try to hit you again. Just give me your phone, please? Anna's trying to tell me something." He handed me his phone and I took it to Anna and she took it and started typing. She typed out a message with her left hand and then turned the phone around so I could see.

' _I was worried about you. You weren't here when I woke up. I didn't know what happened. I've been in this line of work long enough to know that when two people are in the room after something major happens, it's usually bad news. I couldn't remember if you got hurt or not. My memory is a bit fuzzy in places.'_

"I know and I'm sorry. I'm not hurt, I promise you. I'm just fine and I'm so sorry for scaring you like that." I picked Anna's hand up and held it in both of my hands, "I went to go change. I didn't expect you to be awake so soon. I don't think anyone expected you to be awake so soon."

She freed her hand from mine and typed again and when she was finished, I took the phone from her so I could read what she wrote, ' _How long have I been here?'_

"You've been here about a day. Your surgery was early in the morning. You just now woke up."

She nodded and picked Greg's phone up again, _'What'd they do to me? What was wrong? I hurt all over. I feel like I got sawed in half and stitched back together by Frankenstein's doctor after an alcoholic binge.'_

"Hours after surgery and you're still you. You had a gunshot wound to your right shoulder and to your abdomen. You were shot twice."

Anna made a face that was a cross between a grimace and looking like she was about to cry, but started typing one handed again. She turned the phone around so I could see it after she was done, ' _That explains the pain. Lower abdomen is hurting pretty badly right now. Almost like someone's stabbing me. Are you okay? I woke up from the surgery and you weren't here and I saw C and G here and was upset that they were here to tell me something happened to you. I've seen this before. They send in someone else to ask you questions before dropping the bad news on you. I just knew something had happened to you when they were here and you weren't then when they refused to answer my questions about you. No one would explain anything to me.'_

"I'm fine. I promise you. I'm just fine. The surgeon came out and talked to me a couple hours ago and said that you'd be out for a few hours. I left to go take a shower and Cath called me and said you woke up. I promise you, I'm fine. Some bumps and bruises, but I'm fine." I leaned in to kiss her cheek, "I'm just fine now that you're awake. I promise." Anna didn't pick the phone up right away. She just looked at me, "What is it?" She didn't make a move and continued to look at me, "Anna, I know you're trying to tell me something, but I can't figure out what it is. Help me?"

Anna shook her head and picked up the phone again and started typing. She turned the phone around so I could read the message. ' _I'm sorry.'_

"Sorry?" I picked the phone back up again to re-read her message to make sure I didn't miss something. "Sorry for what? I should be the one apologizing to you for this happening to you. You have nothing to apologize for." I looked at Anna as tears fell out of her eyes and onto the pillow behind her. I put my hand on her cheek and used my thumb to wipe the tears away. "You have nothing to be sorry about. I am the one that needs to apologize to you repeatedly. If I hadn't gotten cable hooked up at my apartment, none of this would have happened."

Anna tried to speak again, but her voice was hoarse. She sighed and picked up the phone and started typing again. When she finally turned the phone around after typing out her message one handed, I saw what she had written. ' _I'm sorry because I took so long to get to you. I didn't think I had the strength to leave but I knew if I didn't, he'd kill you. I didn't know if I could get up but you are the only person that matters to me and you needed me.'_

She handed the phone to me to read, "Anna." I looked at the message again and back at Anna. "I owe you my life for what you did. You are the most important part of my life and I hope you know that. You remember what you told me at the hospital when I was injured?" Anna nodded. "I told you then you'd never lose me." I kissed her gently, "And I mean that. You never will."

I looked at her again as she motioned for me to give her the phone back so she could type something else. _'I was in the room just waiting to die but praying I wouldn't. I didn't want to leave you. I told you before, I can't lose you. I don't know what I'd do without you._ '

"Anna, oh…" Now it was my turn to cry. I looked down at the phone again, "You weren't the only one who was waiting to die. I was waiting for that, too. I just wanted to make sure you were okay first but then you saved me and I owe you my life." Anna brought her hand up to my cheek and brushed the tears away just like I did to her. "I can't lose you, either. I wouldn't know how to live my life without you in it."

"Nick? Everything okay?"

"Yeah, Cath. Come on in." I turned around and saw Greg and Catherine in the doorway. I looked at Anna again, "They need to take your statement."

She picked the phone back up and typed out her message. _'I know.'_ She looked at the two of them and typed out another message before turning the phone around for me to read it. ' _Stay with me. Don't leave.'_

"I won't. I'll be here the whole time." I wiped the tears in my eyes with the back of my hand. "They just need to get your statement. You're not in any trouble, but they just need to get your side of things on record."

Anna picked the phone up again and tapped the screen with her fingernails. She was pointing to the ' _I know'_ message again. I stayed where I was and told Anna I'd read the messages out loud since her voice still was hoarse from the trach tube from her surgery. Catherine got out the scene report and started to fill it out as Greg stared at Anna. She picked up his phone and started typing. She turned it around so I could read it. I started laughing, "Greg, she wants you to know that when she gets out of here, we're all going back to that karaoke bar and you and her can do that duet that you never did do the last time we went."

Greg started to laugh, "Any song you want. Except 'Bleeding Love.' I'll leave that one alone so Nick won't kick me in the shins again. I'm sure he still wants my head on a plate for 'MMMBop' from that night."

Anna winced as I looked at her to see her response to Greg, "Need me to get the nurse? Adjust your pain meds?" I started to get off the bed but she stopped me. She picked up the phone again and started typing. She turned the phone around so I could read it. _'No, just hurts to laugh. That's what I was trying not to do, but the thought of Greg singing 'Bleeding Love' with me and then the thought of you kicking him under the table again or just kicking his ass on stage after we were done was just too funny.'_ I read the message to Greg.

"Any song you want, even 'Bleeding Love' as long as you'll keep Nick from kicking me again. We'll do it."

Anna smiled at him as Catherine got ready to start her questions, "Alright, Anna. Just some basic questions first, then we'll get into the narrative and I have to record this." Catherine stopped to look at Anna who nodded. Catherine brought out a digital recorder and pushed the button to record the conversation and set it on the bedside table. "This is CSI Catherine Willows interviewing Anna Gigandet about the shooting death of Nigel Crane and the events of that night. With me are CSI Greg Sanders and CSI Nick Stokes. Ms. Gigandet suffered trauma during the events in question that required surgery and is unable to speak at present. CSI Stokes will be reading responses Ms. Gigandet types out using CSI Sanders's BlackBerry. Do you know the man who shot you and attacked Nick?"

Anna shook her head and winced again. She picked up the phone and typed her answer out then handed it to me, ' _No. I don't know who he is. When did I meet him? Did I have a fire run or an ambulance call at his house?'_

"No. He was the one who installed the cable at Nick's apartment. Nick said you were sick that day and went to bed." She stopped to look at Anna who nodded. "Let it be known for the record, Anna indicated yes to my question about her being sick that day. That may be why you don't remember him." Catherine wrote down something else on the form, "I know this is going to be painful for you to remember and if you don't remember a lot, that's fine. This isn't an inquest and you're not in trouble. We just need your side of the story."

Anna picked Greg's BlackBerry up and tapped the screen with her fingernails again. She handed the phone so I could see what she was pointing at. "She's pointing to the 'I know' message from earlier."

"Okay. First, just tell me what you remember before the shooting. We'll go into details later on." Catherine put on her reading glasses and started to make notes in the case file as she waited on Anna to type out her response.

Anna took the phone back from me and typed out a message to answer Catherine's question. After typing it out one handed, she finally got done and gave the phone to me to read to Catherine. ' _Nick and I had gotten home from going out to eat. We had planned on leaving the restaurant and going straight to the movies, but the waitress spilled tea on me by accident and I needed to change before we left. I remember getting to Nick's house and I had to change my clothes. I had thrown my shirt into the washer and started a load of clothes. Then I went to our room to change.'_

"Good. Do you remember what time it was that you got home?"

' _It was about 6:15 I think. The movie started at seven and Nick wanted to make sure we had enough time to make it.''_

"How long were you in the room before Nigel came out and where was he?"

Anna grimaced again but picked up the phone to type, ' _I don't remember. I came in and got the laundry basket out of the room first and started a load of clothes and threw my soaked shirt in as well. I was out there a minute or two maybe. I don't remember exactly. I had gotten another shirt out of the closet to change into and had thrown that shirt on the bed. I was in our room getting ready to put the shirt on when someone came out of the bathroom as I was unlacing the straps on the sandals I had on. He said something to me which startled me, causing me to turn around. I saw he had the gun pointed at me and I screamed then he shot me in the shoulder and I fell over on the floor. He just stared at me as I was on the floor then Nick came in.'_

"Do you remember what he said to you?"

Anna closed her eyes. When she opened her eyes, she picked up the phone and typed out her response. ' _He said something like 'I won' I think to me first and then he laughed. When he did that, it caused me to turn around and then he said something to me that sounded like 'bros before hos' and then he said he was going to make me pay for what I had done to Nick.'_

"Do you know where he was in relation to you when you came in the bedroom?"

Anna picked the phone up and started typing, _'I was in the closet getting a shirt out and then I was on my side of the bed changing my shoes. He came at me from the bathroom after I threw the shirt on the bed and started to unstrap my sandals. He attacked me right before I had a chance to change into the dry shirt. He shoved me back and I stumbled but stayed standing. He said the bros line then he shot me and I fell over on the floor, landing on my side. He bent down and said he was going to make me pay for what I had done to Nicky.'_

Catherine resumed writing on the report. "Did he ever tell you what you did to Nick?" Anna shook her head. "On record, Anna indicated she did not know what Nigel Crane meant by my question. Alright. About how long was it before Nigel left the room when Mr. Pearson came through the ceiling?"

Anna looked at me, confused by the question. She picked up the phone. ' _Who?'_

I took the phone from her so I could read her message. "He's the psychic. He's the, um…he was the dead body Nigel fell on top of in the living room."

Anna closed her eyes and sighed. I knew she remembered now who Catherine meant. I handed her the phone when she opened her eyes and she typed out what she wanted me to read to Catherine. ' _I didn't even know his name. I don't know how long it was for sure. I was trying to fight a losing battle about staying consciousness by then. Ten minutes, maybe? I really don't remember.'_

"That's about what Nick said earlier. Good. I promise you, there won't be that many more." Catherine flipped to another page in the folder. "Nick said that Nigel left the room, correct?" Anna nodded. "Noted on record Anna indicated yes to my question. How long was he gone?"

Anna thought for a moment before she typed her answer out, _'A minute or two maybe? Nick was begging for me to hang on. I kept feeling weaker as the seconds went by. I had lost a lot of blood. I know Nick was on the phone with the 911 lady before he came back in.'_

"Do you remember anything about the gun he used to shoot you with? Was it his?"

' _It was Nick's. He must have been in the apartment before we got home and got it out of the kitchen where Nick keeps his gun when he's not on duty.'_

"What about what you used to shoot Nigel? Was it yours?" Catherine flipped to a piece of paper in the file she was writing in. "According to this, you've got your CCP and your gun is a registered Glock 19?"

' _Yes, it was mine. I kept it in the table on my side of the bed. He apparently didn't look in there and I usually don't keep it at Nick's. We had planned on going target shooting. I got it from my house a couple days before this happened. That may have been why he didn't know it was in the nightstand. Nick saw it when he got my phone out to call 911.'_

"Okay. There won't be that many more, I promise." Catherine held out a picture to me and asked me to show Anna, "The blood stains on the carpet in the bedroom. This was where you were in the room?" Anna looked at the picture and nodded. She closed her eyes tightly, but the tears still started down her cheeks before hitting the pillow behind her head. After a moment, Anna brought her left hand up to wipe the tears away. "Indicated by Anna was yes to my question. This is going to be the hard part I'm afraid. I need to ask you what you remember about shooting Nigel. If you need a break, let me know and we'll come back tomorrow."

Anna shook her head and picked the phone back up, ' _Can you give me a minute and send Cathy or someone in? My side is really hurting and I need my pain meds adjusted. Can Nick stay with me while you're gone or does he need to be out of the room like with the case with my shirt?'_

"He can stay and we'll send someone in to adjust your pain meds. We'll be right outside. Just have Nick come get us when you're ready." Catherine turned off the recorder and she and Greg left the room.

"Are you okay?" I held Anna's hand in mine. "You don't have to do this now. It can wait."

Anna freed her hand from mine and picked up Greg's phone again but put it down when Cathy came in the room and punched a few buttons on the pain pump before excusing herself from the room. Anna picked the phone back up again after Cathy left, _'It's not going to get any easier the longer I wait. The sooner I get this over with, the sooner I can move on. I'm guessing you've already been interrogated?'_

"Yeah. I gave my statement to Grissom when he interviewed me earlier as I was waiting on your surgery. He asked me a few questions and said they'd get more in depth after you were out of surgery. I'm sure IA will want to talk to me seeing as how it happened at our house. I was worried about you and still am. This can wait. Catherine's not in any big hurry to do this. They can come back another day or when your voice gets better."

' _I kinda figured that they'd ask you what happened first before they got to me. I know my voice will be better this time tomorrow, but…'_ Anna stopped typing and looked at me. She sighed and finished her message. ' _The faster I get this over with the better. It's not going to get any easier for me until I get done. Plus what else do I have to look forward to while I'm here? Green Jell-o and bad food?'_

"Me. I'll be in here. I'll see what I can do about getting you some decent food in here."

Anna smiled. _'Thank you for both parts, especially about you being here. Can you send them back in?'_

"Are you sure?" Anna said she was, "If you want to stop, just tell me and I'll get rid of them again. There isn't a hurry to do this. My first priority is you." Anna picked up the phone and scrolled back up to the ' _I know'_ message from earlier. I called Greg and Catherine back in so they could finish.

"Ready now?" Anna nodded again as Catherine went back to her questions as she turned the recorder back on. "Can you tell us what happened?"

Anna picked Greg's up phone again. After typing for a few minutes, she put the phone down on the bed and put her left hand across her eyes. I reached for the phone to see what she wrote and she grabbed my hand and shook her head. "Catherine, this needs to wait. Anna's…" Anna pulled on my hand to get my attention. When I looked over at her, she shook her head at me. Anna took the phone from me and finished typing. She handed me the phone and closed her eyes and turned her head away so she wouldn't have to watch. ' _Nigel left the room when the crash happened in the living room. I remember Nick getting my phone out of the nightstand on my side of the bed and calling 911. He said that my gun was still in there and that he was going get it and give it to me in case something happened to him. He got it out of the drawer and hid it under my body down by my lower back.'_ I had to stop reading, "Are you sure you want me to finish this today?" Anna motioned for me to finish reading what she typed, "Okay." I took a deep breath and finished reading Anna's statement, _'Nigel yelled at Nick again about something and threatened to shoot me a third time and I think that was when he threatened to kill me. Nick let me go and they left the room after I got shot a second time which happened before Nigel left to go up front. I faked being dead so Nigel would leave me alone. He said something about wanting to do an autopsy on me as they left. Once they got up front, I heard Nigel saying something about manners to Nick. They stayed up front and I kept staring at the ceiling in the bedroom waiting to die. I knew if I didn't get up, Nigel was going to kill Nicky and I had to do something. I was so weak by this time because of the blood loss that I didn't know if I could do it or not. I begged for the strength just long enough to get up and save Nick. I closed my eyes and forced myself to get up. I braced myself on the side of the bed and got the gun out from under me and crawled out of the bedroom. When I got to the hallway, I used the door handle in our bedroom and the dresser to pull myself up one handed.'_

I looked down at Anna who was watching me intently. I had no idea until now what she went through to save me. Fighting off the tears, I finished reading her statement, ' _I leaned against the wall for support and went up front. I was leaning back on the wall in the living room to keep my balance. When I saw Nick on his knees, Nigel raised the gun to kill him and I pulled the trigger before he could shoot Nick. Nigel fell over and looked over at me. He landed on top of the dead guy on the floor and raised his gun to shoot me a third time and I fired several more shots at his direction.'_ I stopped to wipe tears out of my eyes before I could finish reading what Anna wrote, ' _I don't remember a lot after that. My memory is fuzzy from that point on. I was in and out of consciousness by this time. I just remember after I realized he was dead and Nick was okay that a peaceful feeling came over me after I realized Nick was safe. Nick's safety was the only thing that mattered to me. He caught me before I fell and held me while we waited on the police to get to where we were. I started to lose consciousness by then, but was trying to fight it. The lights in the room were so bright.'_

No one in the room said another word after I read Anna's message. Greg got up and left the room. Catherine turned off the recorder and excused herself to check on Greg, leaving me alone with Anna. I looked down at her and every emotion I have ever known washed over me. I wanted to say something but nothing in my head sounded right. Anna picked the phone up and erased the messages from earlier and started over again. She typed out a few words and handed me the phone. ' _You are my life.'_ I held Greg's phone in my hand and kept looking at the four words Anna wrote. She motioned for me to give her the phone back. _'I love you. I told you I can't lose you and I meant it.'_

"Oh, God." I looked from the phone to Anna. Her brown eyes were staring straight at me. "I don't need the phone to understand what you're trying to tell me now." Anna put her left hand behind my neck and pulled me down so I could kiss her. "I love you, too." I heard Anna gasp and I sat back up to look at her, "Anna?" She started shaking again as she put her left hand across the incision on her abdomen. The alarms in the monitors next to the bed started to go off. "Anna?" She gasped for air as Cathy and another one of the ICU nurses came in and shoved me out of the room.

I was outside when Catherine and Greg saw me come out, "Something's wrong with Anna." I looked at the door to Anna's room as the other nurse that had came in with Cathy left and ran to the nurses' station. "I just got thrown out after she gasped and held onto her stomach like she was hurting." I put my hand across my forehead as a doctor and two more nurses ran by me while they were pushing a crash cart as they went into Anna's room. They shut the door behind them, leaving me outside. "I…" I stopped as I felt the tears coming again. Catherine hugged me as I cried on her shoulders.

I heard the door behind me open and watched as the nurses and one of the doctors took Anna out of the ICU area and ran towards the surgery suites. "Would someone please tell me what's going on?" I started after them when I saw Cathy leaving Anna's room. "Cathy?"

She turned to face me as the doors to the ICU opened and they disappeared with Anna behind the doors. "Nick, she's bleeding internally again and the surgeon thinks her appendix just ruptured." Cathy and I started walking towards the surgery waiting room. "Her stat rates dropped. She's bleeding internally and they're taking her back to surgery to do another ex-lap and find out what's going on."

"How?" I started to sit down, but stopped myself. "She was fine twenty minutes ago. We were in her room and she was giving her statement to them, but she was saying her side hurt. That's why I came to get you." I stared at the doors to the surgery suites. "Did we do this to her? Was the stress of reliving that night too much for her?"

Cathy shook her head, "No. You did no such thing. Anna knows her limits. If she felt bad and didn't want to do the interview, you know as well as I do she would have had both of them thrown out. This isn't your fault. This isn't their fault. I see this often especially after surgeries that are as complicated as Anna's first one was." Cathy hugged me, "She'll be okay. I know she will be. Anna loves you and I know you know that. Anna loves you too much for anything bad to happen to her. She wouldn't leave you. Everything will eventually work itself out. I promise." Cathy looked over at the entrance to the waiting room, "Your friends are over there. I'm going to leave and go call Bryan and let him know what's going on. He's at home with Cody but he'll want to be here for her and he can call her parents and Anna's sister since my French is really limited and let them know what's going on." She got up and left, leaving me alone in the waiting room I was in earlier waiting for news about Anna after she was first brought in.

Catherine and Greg sat with me, trying to reassure me that everything was going to be okay. Bryan showed up about an hour after Anna got taken back to surgery and stayed with us until Cathy came back about two hours later and told us Anna was doing fine, "The surgeons got the bleeding stopped and found something else. Her appendix ruptured and that was why she was holding onto her stomach and why she needed me to adjust her pain meds earlier. I asked Dr. Hoyt after he was done and he said it was nothing that had to do with anything any of you did. Just like I said, these things happen. They've got her in PACU or the post anesthesia care unit. They're going to monitor her again for a little bit and she'll be back in the ICU room she was in before. She should be back on the floor in a couple hours and you can see her then. I'll let you know if I hear anything else."

I leaned back in the plastic chair I was in and rested my head on the concrete wall behind me. I heard Bryan talking to Cathy but I wasn't paying any attention to anyone. I was trying to tell myself everything was going to be okay.

An hour later, the orderlies brought Anna from PACU back into her room in the ICU while she was still sedated still from the surgery. They got her situated in the room and Cathy came in to make sure the monitors were placed properly. She said she was going to go get lunch with Bryan downstairs, but she'd be back in a little bit and left me alone in the room with the noise of Anna's IV pumps to keep me company. I plugged Anna's iPod in and turned it back on to a playlist she had created of with a bunch of her Renee Fleming opera CDs. Anna always told me that Renee Fleming singing opera helped her to relax.

Anna's surgeon came in and said they got the bleeding stopped and removed her appendix and put in a PICC line to administer the antibiotics through and that she was doing fine and as soon as she was up to it, I needed to get Anna up and walking around. He left shortly after that leaving me alone as I got lost in my own thoughts until I heard someone open the door to Anna's room about an hour later.

"Hey Nick."

I turned around to see Cathy standing in the doorway to Anna's room. "Oh, hey Cathy."

Cathy listened to the music a moment as she checked the IV pump and adjusted the medication, "Renee Fleming?"

"Yeah. Anna loves her voice."

"So do I. She's got an amazing voice. Anna's actually who turned me on to her." Cathy reached for Anna's chart that the orderlies had stuck in the bin on the wall. "She woke up yet?"

"No, not yet." I watched as Cathy read over the paperwork in Anna's chart before she checked for the printout on the heart and oxygen monitors. She fiddled with the printout button before it finally printed out the report she needed. "Last surgery, she woke up not too long after she got brought back in her room. I wasn't here and it scared her. I'm not going anywhere this time until she wakes up."

"That's normal as far as the time it took her to wake up. Sometimes, patients are out for hours after a surgery and sometimes, it's less than half an hour." She read over the reports again. "According to this, she's doing well. Very well actually. Compared to her rates that she had when she was in the OR and then in PACU, I'd say she does better when she's around you. It's almost like she knows you're here with her. She's a strong woman. Did Dr. Hoyt stop by after Anna's surgery?"

"Yeah he stopped in long enough to say he stopped the bleeding and he'd be by tomorrow for rounds. Not much for bedside manner is he?"

"No, he's not, but he's an excellent surgeon and he knows it. He'd be who I'd want if I needed surgery." Cathy flipped to another page in Anna's chart and wrote something in it before putting it back in the bin, "She's in good hands with him as her surgeon, I promise."

"He was in a hurry to get out of here. Intramural midnight golf league game I guess. He did mention to me that as soon as Anna's able, he wants me to get her up and make her walk around."

"She'll be up to moving around in a few days. She's gonna be sore. I can promise you that. I was sore after my c-section with Cody and didn't want to get out of bed, but Bryan made me and it did help. Just take it slowly with her and don't rush her and remember this isn't the Boston Marathon. Just a lap or two around the nurses' desk will do for now." Cathy checked the IV tubing and the IV pump before telling me she'd be back later and leaving me alone in the room with Anna.

Another hour passed before I heard Anna starting to move slightly in the bed as the anesthesia wore off. She blinked her eyes a few times as she tried to focus as she fought with the trach tube again. "Anna." I put my hands on her left hand as she tried to pull it out. She stopped fighting and looked at me, "Hon, let me go get Cathy." I left the room and got Cathy and brought her back in, but by that time, Anna had already pulled the trach tube out a second time.

"You always have been a stubborn one just like Bryan. No wonder the two of you get along so well. You're both one and the same." Cathy checked Anna over to make sure she didn't do any damage from pulling out her trach tube again. "Just because you're a medic that doesn't mean you can do that." I could tell from where I was sitting that Anna was staring at Cathy. "And I know what you're thinking and the answer is still no. You should have waited. I know that because you're just like my husband, that's why. He did the exact same thing after he had his appendix removed a couple years ago. I swear, when one of you has a procedure done, the other one has it done too. Both of you have your tonsils out. Both of you broke your arm in elementary school. Now, both of you have dealt with a ruptured appendix. Both of you pulled out your own trach tubes."

I stayed in the room with Anna for another few hours until she fell back asleep. While Anna was asleep, I left her with Cathy who had just gotten off work. I promised Cathy that I'd be gone just long enough to go to the hotel room and shower and change clothes again. When I got back, Anna was still asleep. Cathy told me she didn't wake up while I was gone and said she'd be back on duty later on tonight and would see me then. "The day nurse's name is Shelby. She'll be here until eight tonight and I'll be back then. Anna's probably going to be transferred to a step down room pretty soon. She's doing really well. I've already been told I can transfer to that floor when Anna gets sprung from ICU."

I told Cathy thanks and she left me alone with Anna in the room again. Anna woke up a few times during the day, but not for very long. She knew I was there and after she finally got her voice back, she said that helped her more than I could ever know.

Catherine and Greg came back a couple days after her second surgery after Anna had gotten transferred to the step down room and finished their interview with her without incident. Catherine told me that the day shift had finished processing my apartment and told me I could get my furniture out. Ecklie came by later on that day and told me that after the team went through it combing for evidence and released my apartment, the apartment manager came by looking for me. He had told her I was here with Anna and the manager told him to tell me she was booting me out as well as the other tenants in the building I lived in. Not wanting Anna to be alone, I waited until she was sleeping before I left her with Bryan or with Cathy at the hospital just long enough to go to Anna's house and get some clothes and some of my personal effects that I needed. Catherine had given me the name of a moving company that Sam had used in the past and I hired them to move most of my furniture into a storage unit. They boxed up some of my clothes and had them dropped off at Anna's house. I didn't want to go back to that apartment. I had been by once since Anna got shot and I couldn't stay in the apartment long. Every time I got a look at the blue tarp covering the hole in the living room or the blood pool in my bedroom or the smears on the walls that Anna left behind as she came out of the bedroom to save me, I had flashbacks of seeing Nigel waving that gun at me or at Anna or the flashbacks of Anna's lifeless body crumpled on the floor as little by little, the blood ran out of her body and onto the carpet.

I was staying in town to be close to Anna, but we had talked about me moving in with her since I couldn't go back to my apartment nor did I even want to. She told me to have the movers take whatever I needed to her house. The manager had said she'd put me in another building, but I couldn't do it. I knew I'd never be able to live there again and I didn't even have to ask Anna what she thought. The memories were too painful. The sounds were too painful, especially that scream and the sound I heard when Anna fell to the floor after Nigel shot her. I blinked away the memories and shook my head, trying desperately to forget about what happened.

Anna continued improving as the days went by. Two days after she got transferred to the step down ward, she was put in a private room on the same floor. Cathy once again put in a transfer request to stay with Anna until she was released from the hospital and the hospital obliged. A day after she had been transferred into a regular room, I had stepped out long enough to grab breakfast for myself and had picked up a surprise for Anna for when she woke up. I got back to the room before Anna was up and was lost in thought about my statement I had given to Ecklie and the IAD guys earlier when Anna started to wake up for the morning. "Anna?" I stood up from my chair and sat on the edge of the bed so she could see me.

"You're here." She pushed the button on the bed to raise the part under her back up to a position she was comfortable with, "You looked like you were lost in thought somewhere. Anything important?"

"Nothing important." I kissed her and sat back down, "And of course I'm here. Where else would I be? Feeling better?"

"Somewhat. I'm getting there, slowly but surely. Still in some pain from the abdominal injury but I need to get up and walk around. Dr. Hoyt and Cathy have been on me to get up. Haven't really felt like trying until now. Help me?" Anna moved her IV pole around and yanked the power cord out of the wall before untwisting the tubing and wires as she started to sit up in the bed. I helped Anna up and got her sitting in the bed, "This is a nice change." Anna stayed in bed until she got used to sitting up before she tried to stand up. With my help, she stood up and reached over and got her robe. I put it across her right shoulder as she put her left arm through the sleeve. "Grab Oliver for me."

I looked around trying to figure out what she was talking about, "Who?"

"The IV." Anna pulled on the line attached to the stand, pulling it towards her, "His name is Oliver. He needed a name." I helped her tie the belt of the robe around her waist and held on to her as she got used to standing rather than being on her back in the bed. "He's with me every day and follows me around everywhere I go and as a result, he needed a name."

With me supporting most of Anna's weight and pushing Oliver, we made a short lap around the nurses' desk. There was a picture window on one side of the floor Anna was on and as we walked, she said she wanted to sit and watch for a minute. I moved a chair to make room for Oliver as Anna and I sat down on the bench in front of the window to watch as the cars went by on the roads around the hospital. "I never thought I'd be tired of being in bed all the time. I'm still so sore. How are you?" She leaned over and rested her body against my side, "I've been asleep so much and we haven't had a lot of chances to talk without getting interrupted."

"Tired, but I'm okay I guess. I'm relieved to see you up and about. Feeling okay now that you're mobile?"

"Yeah." Anna didn't take her eyes off the road below the window, "I'm still really, really stiff from being in bed as long as I was and of course, sore from the surgery to my stomach but that's normal. Shoulder's not that bad but the stomach injury is what hurts so much." She started to laugh, "You know what thought just hit me?"

"What?"

"Is it just me or do we spend an unusual amount of time in hospitals after getting hurt since we met? First, you get hurt after that flower pot 419. Then I get sick with the flu. Then you get hurt again. Then I get shot. Seems to me like we got some really bad juju going on or we just really love coming to the hospital. Wonder if there's someone we can call to fix that?"

I laughed, "I'll see what I can do about finding the phone number to the Good Juju Fairy. The thought never hit me until now."

Anna sighed as she started to scratch her right shoulder where her stitches were, "Stitches are itching pretty badly. You know what would work really well right now?"

"I'll ask Cathy for some lotion or something to help with the itching." I put my hand on Anna's and pulled her hand away from her shoulder and kissed it as I interlaced her fingers with mine, "You're going to pop a stitch if you keep on scratching and what is it that you want?"

Still holding onto my hand, she started to get up. I helped her stand on her feet as she leaned against the window before putting her left arm around me and leaning against me. "A Mountain Dew. I'm so sick of water." I held her for a little bit until she said she needed to sit back down before we went back to her room. I moved Oliver out of the way as we both watched the traffic below. She held out her hand a little later. "I think the nausea has passed. Another round before they bring the breakfast carts and force me to eat runny eggs and a bacon type substance?"

We walked around one more time before we went back to the room. We got back just in time for breakfast to be served. I helped Anna get back in bed as the attendant brought the rolling table over and put a plastic plate in front of her. Anna looked less than thrilled when she took the top off of the plate. "Looks…um…well, nasty really." I said a silent thank you that I wasn't the one having to eat it.

I watched as she gagged and poked the eggs with a spork, "They taste just as bad. I'd like to amend my earlier wish. I still want a Mountain Dew, but I've added something else to the list." Anna stabbed one of the strips of the bacon on the plate with her plastic spork, "Some decent food as well as the Mountain Dew."

"I may have just the thing." I bent down to get the bag I brought in last night while Anna was asleep, "You asked me to bring you these." I set some books on the side of her bed, "But I bet you're more interested in this." I pulled out a bottle of Mountain Dew out of my bag and Anna's eyes lit up for the first time since she was in here, "I got this earlier while you were still asleep. You deserve this."

"Ohmigawd, Nick. Thank you." I unscrewed the bottle top and handed it to her as she took a long drink of it, "It seems like it's been forever since I've had one. I had about forgotten what they tasted like." Anna took another drink, "Thank you." She screwed the cap back on the bottle, "And I love you." She motioned for me to lean in closer to her so she could kiss me and I did as she held on to my neck to keep me close to her, "And I don't just mean for the Dew, I mean for everything: for helping me, for staying with me for the past weeks, even though most of it is a blurry, drug induced fog of haze, but thank you."

"I love you too and you're welcome. Where else would I be? I'm where I want to be."

Anna was conscious most of the day. She and I both fell asleep right after dinner and we didn't wake up until Cathy stopped by to check on us before she left for the day and Anna fell back asleep after Cathy left. Bryan came by a little bit later and offered to stay with Anna so I could go back to the hotel room and change clothes and shower and I had to go by the lab. I promised Bryan I'd be right back as soon as I was done and told him if Anna woke up to call me if she needed anything while I was out. I was gone a couple hours and raced back when I got done. The elevator doors opened on the floor that Anna was on and after holding the door open for someone else, I started towards Anna's room.

"Mr. Stokes. How's the girlfriend doing? I haven't seen you much since she got transferred out of the ICU."

I looked over my shoulder to see the security officer that had been stationed at the ICU desk for the better part of the time Anna was in ICU coming to sit back down. "Hey, Matt. She's doing well and that's a good thing I'd suppose with her not having to go back to the ICU. She's been up and walking around earlier."

He told me to tell Anna hi for him as he sat back down at his desk as I kept walking past where he was to the room Anna was in. I walked in Anna's room and found an empty bed. Her IV pole was gone. I left her room and made my way to the nurses' desk, "Excuse me?"

"Yes, sir?" The nurse looked up from the chart he was writing in.

"Anna Gigandet in the room over there, where'd she go?"

"Lemme check." The nurse typed in Anna's name and hit a couple buttons on the computer's keyboard, "I don't see her in MRI or x-ray but if she wasn't on the schedule, she wouldn't be in here. I'm going to look in one more place."

He went back to pushing buttons when I looked up and saw Bryan leading Anna back to her room. Bryan was dragging Oliver with his left hand while he was using his right arm to support Anna's weight. "Never mind. There she is." I left the nurse at the desk and went to where Anna and Bryan were, "Feeling better?"

"It's not as hard as it was the first couple days, but I'm getting there. I'll be back swimming before too much longer." Anna smiled as Bryan let go of her so I could support her as we walked, "Bryan and I made a lap around the nurses' desk at the other end of the ward where we went the other day." She held out her left arm and I took it as she leaned into me, "Frog, would you push Oliver, please?" Bryan took charge of Oliver as I supported Anna as we made one more lap around the nurses' station before we took Anna back to her room. Bryan left to go home but said Cathy would be in later on.

A little over a week later, Anna was able to ambulate without me supporting her weight. We made our daily lap around the nurses' desk and she had just finished off her breakfast when Dr. Hoyt came in to check on her, "Well, according to this, I think it's safe to say that you can go home today. Stay with us long enough to let us pull another MRI on your shoulder and abdomen to check for any problems, then after that if everything looks okay, we'll pack you up and you can get back home."

"Hot damn." Anna's hand went to her mouth to cover it after what she just said, "Oops."

"You're not the first to say that or a variation thereof." Dr. Hoyt laughed and flipped through her chart, "Looks good. Looks real, real good actually. I take it you're ready to go?"

"I was about four weeks ago. I'll be glad to finally get out of here. No offense, but I'm ready to go home."

He left after telling us he'd send a transporter up for Anna in a little bit and after that, she would be discharged.

Four hours and a clean MRI later, Anna was being pushed in a wheelchair as I walked next to her, "Sunshine." I handed Anna her sunglasses I had brought in and helped her out of the wheelchair and thanked the transporter as she left. "This is another thing I haven't felt in weeks. Sunlight." Anna closed her eyes and leaned against my truck as I unlocked the door and put her stuff in the seat. "Finally. Going home." She stared back at the hospital with a distant look I didn't quite understand as she got in my truck. "Home now?"

I got in my side and started the truck. "I can drop you off now, but I need to stop by the Tangiers and check out there, then by the lab and drop something off then I need to go back by my apartment and pick up something and get my deposit check back."

Anna froze, "What?"

"I was going to leave you at the crime lab while I go if you didn't want to go home first. You can see your namesake in Grissom's office if you want. He says Gabby misses you. It won't take but just a minute. I need to go to my apartment and pick up a box the landlord said the movers left behind and I need to get my deposit refund check then that's it. We can go home after that." Anna didn't say anything in response to me, "Anna, what is it?"

"No. I want to go." She folded one of her legs up under her as she adjusted the strap on the sling to bring her right arm up higher, "I want to go back. I need to go back. I want to see."

"Are you sure?" I knew better than to ask that question, but I did anyway, "I mean, after everything that's happened, are you sure?"

"Yes. Take me, please." Anna looked at me, "Nicky? Please. It's something I need to do."

I let out an exasperated sigh as I watched her expression, "My gut is telling me not to do this, Anna." Her eyes were fixated on me and her expression didn't change. "I don't see how anything good can come of this, but I know better than to argue with you. We'll go by there first." I took her left hand in mine and kissed the top of it. "But if you want to leave, tell me and we'll bolt, ok?"

The radio in my truck played softly in the background as I made the familiar turns to the entrance to my old apartment complex. I noticed that as I made the last turn into the complex and slowed down to stop at the manager's office, Anna exhaled a slow breath, "Are you okay?" She said she was as I pulled into the parking lot in front of the manager's office, "Stay here. I need to run in and get my check and then we'll go by my old apartment." I got out of the truck and made my way into the manager's office.

The manager and I talked for a moment before I went back outside with my deposit check and the box that the movers forgot, "Anna, I got…" I looked in my truck. Anna was gone. "le Damn." I dropped the check in the open window and opened the back door and set the box inside and ran to the building I used to live in. The door to my old apartment was open and Anna was standing in what was once my living room next to a pile of yellow crime scene tape and some sheetrock scraps that one of the workers had thrown into a pile on the floor. She was looking up at the blue tarp that was covering the hole in the ceiling, "Anna, honey?" She didn't move. "Anna?"

She slowly turned around to face me, "Nick. I'm sorry, I should have waited, but I just, hell, I don't know." She held out her hand for me to take and took a step forward. The heel of her sandal got caught on a piece of plaster still on the floor. She kicked her foot, sending the plaster chunk flying across the room, "He was here, wasn't he?"

"Yeah. He was here on top of the psychic guy."

"Do you suppose he saw it coming? His death?"

Feeling that was more of a rhetorical question, I didn't answer. With me following close behind and still holding onto her hand, Anna stared at the wall at the back of the apartment. Though most of the wall had been repaired, parts were still smeared in blood from where she leaned against it to save my life. After dropping my hand, she took slow steps as she walked in the hallway and ran her fingers over the dried blood until she pulled her hand away as her fingers touched the fresh sheetrock. Reaching for my hand again, I followed her as she made her way into what was once our bedroom.

My furniture was long gone. The crime lab took my bed due to the blood on the side of it. Anna had said she used it to brace herself as she stood up to come up front. The only things in the room were the miniblinds from the window and a bucket of sheetrock mud that were both in a corner of the room. The carpet was taken right after I got my furniture out due to the blood stains from her wounds. Anna stared at the concrete floor as she dropped my hand and brought her left hand up to her right shoulder and let it drift down towards her stomach to touch the points where she was shot as she stepped in the middle of the blanched spot on the concrete. I could only imagine what she was thinking as she was no doubt replaying the events of that night over in her mind as we both stood there, "This was where I was?"

"Yes." I stood behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist and she leaned into me, "You were here, lying on your back." Anna had her head down as she was staring hard at the spot on the concrete floor. When her I felt her sob, it was then that I noticed she was crying as I felt the tears hit my arms. I turned her around to face me so she wouldn't be looking at the bleached spots on the floor and held her in my arms as she put her left arm around me and cried into my shirt, "Oh, God, Anna. I'm sorry. Damn, I'm so sorry for doing this to you. Honey, I'm just so sorry." I turned around slowly, bringing her with me and hoping she'd follow me and leave with me, "Come on, let's get out of here."

"It's not your fault, Nick. I wanted to see this." She took a step back from me and wiped tears from her eyes with her shirt, "I wanted to. I needed to in some weird, deranged way."

With my right hand firmly holding on to her left hand, I led her back out of the apartment and outside through the courtyard in the building. Dropping her hand long enough to shut the door, I left her staring up at the clouds for a moment before I took her hand in mine as we made our way towards the manager's office where my truck was. Anna stopped at the edge of the courtyard and leaned against the stone wall as she cried. She was telling me she couldn't walk any more, "I'm sorry, Anna. I shouldn't have agreed to this." I picked her up and carried her across the parking lot to my truck.

"I got sh…"

She was still crying as I set her down and I pulled her into my arms again as she put her left arm around me to hug me back as I opened the door for her, "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." Anna started to cry harder into my shirt. My heart was aching for her and the pain all of this caused her. I mentally berated myself for ever agreeing to this. Anna finally let go of me and sat down and I could tell as we drove off, she was watching the reflection of the building in the side view mirror. I stopped by the Tangiers and checked out then made a quick trip inside the crime lab to pick up some paperwork Grissom said I needed to finish before I came back to work.

Anna was quiet the whole ride out to her house. She stared out the window as the scenery went by. A couple times, a song she knew came on the radio and I could hear her softly sing a few verses here and there, but she wasn't acting like herself. It wasn't until we finally made the last turn to get to her house that she came out of her trance. "Home." She looked out across her front yard. "Home. Finally." I took care of the gate and parked as she got out of the passenger side of the truck. "It looks different. Smaller maybe." I unlocked the door to the house and Draco bounded up to see Anna. She sniffed both of us before deciding everything was back to normal and trotted off to the back of the house where her bed was.

"You want anything? Hungry?

Anna shook her head, "No. I'm fine right now." She did her one armed hug again as she buried her face in my shirt. "I just need you."

**A/N: Just remember everyone – this is FICTION. I've never had to stay overnight in the hospital, but I've known plenty of people who have and I tried to make this as realistic as possible but this is fiction, so keep that in mind if you see any inaccuracies with my version of Anna's hospital stay. However, I do work in a hospital.**

**\- Insert obligatory begging for review line here with me giving everyone the sad puppy dog face as I beg -**

**More chapters to come! I'm not done telling this story.**


	13. Steal My Sunshine

**Chapter 13 – Steal My Sunshine**

**A/N: Two weeks after the previous chapter.**

After recess was called in between court cases, I got up to see if Anna was here yet. I had just testified at a pre-trial session and was waiting on the second case of the day I had to be here for. Anna had gotten a subpoena about three months ago and was going to be here today to testify. I offered to get Grissom or Ecklie to call the ADA and have her reschedule Anna's testimony because of her injury, but Anna assured me she wanted to be here.

I stepped outside the courtroom and started to walk towards the entrance to the courthouse. I got about twenty feet away from the courtroom and saw Anna talking to Bryan and someone else. She saw me and left the two of them where they were and started walking towards me. "Hey." I got a look at her and saw that she was in her Class A uniform for her court appearance today. With her hair pulled back behind her in a low ponytail, she had her fire department dress hat on her head, "I don't get many chances to see you in this uniform. Looks good on you."

"Hey Nicky." She took off the dress hat and kissed me before we moved back towards the wall of the courthouse, "Thank you, but you're also biased. Something tells me I could wear a burlap sack and you'd tell me I looked good."

"Caught me and yes I am biased." I put my hand on the small of her back and we started to walk back towards the courtroom where the case was going to be heard.

"I haven't put this one on in ages. Almost forgot what it felt like." She started to mess with the strap on her sling, "Help? It's caught on my nameplate."

I helped Anna adjust it to where it was in a more comfortable position for her shoulder and freed it from her brass nameplate that was pinned to her shirt, "Feeling better? Bryan get you up here okay?"

"Yep." Anna looked behind her, "He was behind me but who knows where he went." She glanced over at the clock above the courtroom doors. "I hope we're out of here in time for my physical therapy session. It's at noon."

The clock on the wall above the courtroom doors said it was a few minutes before 9AM, "You should be. Your part shouldn't take you that long. You here for that car fire we worked?"

"Yeah. I don't know why I got called, but whatever." Anna reached for my hand and took it in hers, "But here I am none the less. Bryan said he'll drop me off at the hospital if you can come and get me at 1:30 when I'm done. That okay?"

"Yeah, I'll be done by then and in the event I'm not, I'll send someone over to get you. Oh, and just be warned, this guy's defense lawyer, Dale Demers, is a real jack wagon. He's one of those ambulance chasing sharks that will do anything or say anything to get his client off. He's an obnoxious gas bag. Just be careful."

"Miss Anna." Anna didn't get a chance to respond as she looked around me and saw Greg a few steps behind me, headed our direction, "And how is the finest paramedic in all the land?"

"She's doing well. Her arm and stomach still hurts, but I'm managing. How is my favorite camera man wanna be?"

"Business is slow. Need you and Nick to help me with that. You still owe me a duet."

Anna smiled, "And I intend on paying up too. I told you I would."

"Testifying injured are we? Now that's dedication." Greg looked at Anna's sling, "Couldn't get out of testifying? I figured with your injury and all, they'd make an exception."

"I didn't ask. I'm not doing anything and all I can do now is sit at home and watch TV. I haven't even been cleared to drive yet. If I didn't get the subpoena months ago, I would have had the LVFD legal rep call and reschedule."

The court doors opened and the bailiff announced we could come in and take our seats. I led Anna to a bench and she sat down first with me sitting next to her. Greg walked around and sat on the other side of Anna. We talked for a few moments until Bryan came in right before the bailiff called the court to order.

"All rise." The bailiff stood next to the judge's bench, "The Honorable Judge Benjamin Cunningham presiding over Clark County General Court session." The judge walked in and after he was seated, the bailiff announced that we could be seated. I took my seat back on the bench with Anna next to me and put my arm around her shoulders, propping it on the back of the bench we were sitting in.

We were in court about half an hour before Anna got called. As usual, the bailiff massacred Anna's last name as he was swearing her under oath.

Dale stood up as he got ready to question Anna. He did his best to look intimidating but I could tell from where I was seated, Anna was not impressed, "State your name please for the record."

"Anna is my first name. My last name is Gigandet and that's spelled G-I-G-A-N-D-E-T."

"Thank you." He marked something on a sheet of paper that was on the table he was sitting at, "It says here that you made the scene on March 18th. Is this correct?"

"Yes, sir. I was part of the engine company who responded that day."

"It says here you're also a paramedic." He looked over at Anna, "If you're a medic, why were you on the engine that day? Did someone get hurt?"

"No. I'm a dual role provider. I'm certified and trained as a firefighter as well as a paramedic. The day in question, I happened to be on the engine. I am usually assigned to the ambulance, but on this particular day, I was assigned to the engine."

I could tell that he was looking at the sling around Anna's shoulders as he continued his staring contest with her, still trying to bluff her by looking more intimidating than he really was, "And were you hurt during your job duties as paramedic or firefighter?"

"No."

"Then how were you hurt?"

"I'm failing to see how that has anything to do with this case. I was not hurt during the date in question nor does it have anything to do with my job. If I was hurt on the date in question, I wouldn't have been at work. It's really hard to hold a fire hose or operate life saving equipment one handed."

"I have to agree with Ms. Gigandet. Her injuries have nothing to do with the case." Judge Cunningham folded his arms and leaned back in his chair, "Let's move it along, Mr. Demers."

"Yes, sir." Dale looked down and wrote something else on his paper, "So you treated my client, Jesse Davidson."

"No. As per the report, you can clearly see that I did not. I was on scene responding to the car fire. I didn't treat your client. I was part of the team that put the fire out in his car."

"So you didn't treat him?"

I had to hide a smile as Anna shook her head and sat up a bit straighter to show how annoyed she was with this line of questioning, "Didn't I just say that?"

"But you were on scene?"

"Yes. You have the report. I signed it as you can tell. Therefore once again, I was there."

The attorney opened a folder on the desk and got out a different scene report, "So, what would you say was the condition of my client when you made the scene?"

I could tell from where I was sitting that Anna was getting annoyed even more with the defense attorney's line of questioning, "I wouldn't want to speculate."

He looked back at her and then turned to face the gallery, "What do you mean 'you wouldn't want to speculate?' Does that mean you don't know how to do your job?"

"No. It means I didn't treat your client. I had nothing to do with him on this date in question with the exception of putting out the car fire caused by the wreck. I didn't treat him. If you want to ask what his condition was, you'd need to interview the two people on the ambulance for that day. Seeing as how I did not treat him, I don't know what his injuries were so I can't speculate on that. The only contact your client and I had was when I glanced at him as the officers were putting handcuffs on him. I was focusing my attention on the car fire with the rest of my team and we were all making sure it was out before the investigators from crime lab started processing."

Dale sat down on the edge of the table, "So you can't tell me what was wrong?"

"No." Anna stared at him, causing him to stand back up in front of the defense table, "Again, I don't want to and I am not going to speculate on what your client's injuries were at the scene. It'd be like me asking you to do something you've never done before and asking you how to do it. You know such as if I asked you how to tell the truth. You've probably never done that before in your life, right? Therefore you wouldn't want to speculate on how it's done."

Dale turned around as the bailiff standing beside Anna gave her a look as the judge was busy trying to hide a smile as some low laughs came from the jury box as well as the gallery. He cleared his throat, hiding the need to laugh. "Please keep it on topic, Ms. Gigandet."

"Sorry, your honor." Anna looked at me and I knew that sorry was the last thing she felt, "Do I need to rephrase that for you or did you get it?"

The defense attorney looked down at his papers, "I got it." He wrote something else down, "So how hot exactly was the car fire when you arrived on scene?"

Anna folded her left arm across her chest and let it rest on top of her sling, "Well, we don't exactly get a thermometer out and measure the temperature before we put it out, but if I had to guess, it was really, really hot."

"Aggie, damn." Bryan exhaled sharply as he put his dress hat in the vacant seat between us. I knew he and I both were getting ready to get up if Anna got arrested for being a smart ass.

I looked down at my feet, trying not to laugh while I said a silent prayer hoping that Anna wouldn't be thrown in jail for contempt for being a smart ass, though I couldn't blame her. I have had dealings with Dale Demers in the past and know how she felt being questioned by him. The judge cleared his throat as he told Dale to get on with it.

Dale continued questioning Anna on what happened that day. After a few more questions, she was excused. She sat down next to me as Bryan was called next to testify, "I hate being called as a witness like that. Everything they need to know is in the report. That's why it's called a report."

"I know. Just be glad you're not us. We're here more often than not and it's the same questions over and over and we have to explain every single detail so that John Q. Citizen can understand what we're doing and how we do it. At least your job is pretty cut and dry. How many ways are there to put out a car fire and how complicated can they be?"

"True." Anna held onto my hand we listened to Bryan give basically the same answers Anna gave not ten minutes ago, but Bryan didn't use the dramatic flair that Anna did. When he was excused, Anna kissed me before she and Bryan left the courtroom.

Greg and I were called as witnesses and a couple hours after Anna left, we were excused. By the time we got out of court, it was noon and Anna's therapy session had just started. I knew she still had another hour and a half with the therapist at the hospital, so I went back to the lab to catch up on some paperwork I needed to finish while I was off work with Anna. It had only been a little over a week since she got home from the hospital and I hadn't gone back to work yet. I had talked to Ecklie and Grissom and they both agreed to let me stay off work until Anna was cleared to drive. Until then, I needed to be around as much as possible in case Anna had a doctor's appointment or a complication from her surgery.

I went to the conference room at the lab and checked my mailbox. Grissom had told me he shoved a brown envelope in my mail slot with the paperwork I needed to finish before I could come back to work. I got the envelope out of my box and left the conference room to try to find an empty office where I could sit down to start in on the paperwork. Two of the day shift CSIs passed me in the hallway as I was looking for an empty room to use. They told me they were on their way out to another crime scene and were using the office next to the DNA lab earlier in the day and that I could use it if I didn't mind the mess they left.

I was lost in paperwork when I heard someone knocking on the window to the office I was in. I looked up to see who was trying to get my attention and was surprised to see Anna and I waved her inside, "Hey, my love. I wasn't expecting you." I checked my watch, "You're early. How'd you get over here?"

"Greg have a new case?" She maneuvered around the boxes of evidence that the two day shift CSIs had left on the floor in the office I was using. "Looks like he's been in here given the mess. Obstacle course now part of CSI training?" She stood on her toes to kiss me, "Could be fun I guess. Just don't break an ankle, but then again, we have a streak going on with who can spend the most time at Desert Palms. I think I'm winning right now anyway."

"You're early."

"My PT's patient before me canceled and she had an open slot. I didn't know if you'd be done with court by the time I got through, so Bryan stayed with me at the therapy session. He didn't have anywhere else to be so he brought me back over here when we left Desert Palms and I saw your truck outside. I didn't want to call in case you were still in court or something. I ran into Catherine and Sara in the lobby and Catherine told me you were back here."

"No, it's not Greg's case actually, but I can see where you'd think that given the mess. This is from a case two of the day shift CSIs are working. Apparently they have the same cleanliness and organizational skills that Greg has. I'm just in here hiding so I can fill this paperwork out that Grissom left in my box that needed to be done before I come back. I still have to get a medical release done." I looked at the boxes on the floor. "Obstacle course would be dangerous for some of the people here. It's a good thing my girlfriend is a paramedic." I returned the kiss and hugged her, "They're both just messy as hell, but you already know that by just looking around. Therapy go okay?"

"Yep. I had an MRI scheduled for today, but my PT wanted to leave early so she'll do that tomorrow, but she says I'm doing fine. Hurts like hell though. I'm still so sore from the session. Ready to leave?"

"I am if you are. I gotta go see if I can find Grissom so I can give these to him or I can throw these on his desk. Wait here?" Anna said she would as I left to see if I could find Grissom. I checked in his office and of course, he wasn't there. I put the paperwork I had filled out back in the envelope and put a Post It note on top telling him I had filled out as much as I could and when I got the medical release in the next couple days, I'd have the doctor fax it over to his attention.

After finally getting back to where I left Anna, I remembered I left something in my locker and needed to go get it while I was here. Rather than make her wait again in the lab, I took her by the hand and led her through the maze of hallways until we were at the locker room downstairs. I left her waiting outside while I got what I needed. When I got done, I saw that Anna was outside talking to Catherine while she was waiting on me to get what I needed. I was always amazed that no matter where we were, Anna could find someone to talk to about something. "Ready?"

Anna looked over her shoulder, "Just waiting on you." She turned her attention back to Catherine, "To answer your question, my shoulder's doing pretty well. I'm still really sore and if the hospital's physical therapy department ever goes under, my PT can always get a job at Helga's House of Pain. I know I have to do it and all that but, blah, it hurts."

"I'm sure you already know this, but stick with it. It'll get easier. Those first few weeks are the worst." Catherine looked behind us at the clock on the wall, "Heading home already? I didn't figure you'd be here at all today."

"On our way now. Nick said he was going to come back here to wait on me so he could finish up some work while I was at my therapy session at Desert Palms. I had Bryan drop me off here because my PT session was earlier than normal and I didn't know if Nick was done with court or not. I haven't been cleared to drive yet, so Nick's my chauffer."

I took Anna's hand, "We better get going."

"Nice to see you again, Cath." Anna held onto my hand as I led her out of the lab and back outside, "I don't know about you, but I'll be ready for winter, or at the very least, fall. This heat is excruciating. It's a dry heat, just like a sauna."

I opened the door to help Anna get in my truck, "That's Vegas for you. At least it's not heat plus humidity."

Anna and I went home and settled in to our post-hospital routine once again. The next couple days were the carbon copies of the days since Anna had gotten discharged. I'd take her to her therapy and bring her back home. Sometimes we'd go out and other times we'd come back to her house and just relax. It was nice just getting to spend time with her after she got hurt without having to worry about her work schedule or my work schedule.

Even though Anna didn't have to be at work, she preferred to sleep whenever I did. I was going back to work in a few days and needed to get back in the habit of being up all night and sleeping during the day. Anna and I slept at night through the rest of the week because she wasn't cleared to drive. Finally on Wednesday, after another MRI, Anna's therapist announced she was cleared to drive herself around meaning I could go back to work since she could drive herself to and from the hospital. I told her I'd still bring her on Thursday and Friday to her therapy session if she wanted me to take her.

After her session on Thursday, we went out to celebrate that night and stayed out later than we had in a long time. Anna fell asleep on the way home. I woke her up long enough to come inside the house and change, but she fell asleep quickly once she got in bed.

"Noooooo! Noooooo! God, No! Nicky!"

We had been asleep about four hours when Anna woke up. I sat straight up in bed when I heard her terrified cries. Even as dark as it was in our room, I could tell she was sitting up in bed, breathing heavily from her nightmare. She put her hand across her forehead before she fell back on the pillows in bed, "Anna? I'm here. I'm fine." I reached over and turned the light on so I could see her, "You okay?"

"No." Anna looked over at me and shook her head before letting out a heavy sigh, "Another nightmare." She threw the covers off of her and after petting Draco who was stretched out in the floor of our bedroom, Anna left the room and went up front. I stayed where I was until I heard the sound of glass breaking coming from the kitchen. I kicked the covers off my side of the bed and petted Draco on my way by her. She yawned and stretched on the floor before she rolled over to her other side as I left the room to go check on Anna.

When I got to the kitchen, I looked down and saw the shattered remains of a glass. Anna was barefoot in the kitchen and as she started to walk towards the laundry room where the broom and dustpan were, I stopped her, "Stay where you are. You're barefoot. I'll get it." I got the broom and dustpan and started to clean up the broken glass.

As I was throwing the shards away in the garbage can, Anna started crying again. "Nicky, I'm sorry. He came back. He…I didn't…You…" She looked up at me, "I couldn't…I tried…but I couldn't and you…"

I knew what Anna was trying to tell me. She was trying to tell me had another nightmare about Nigel coming back and killing me and she wasn't able to stop him. Since being home from the hospital, this was about the tenth time she had that specific dream. I dropped the broom and dustpan on the floor as I took her hand in mine and pulled her towards me, "I am so sorry you're going through this. I am so sorry." I did my best to soothe her fears, but she continued to cry, "Anna, it's okay. Everything is okay. It was just a bad dream, I promise you. I'm fine and it's all over. Everything is over with. You're safe here with me." I tightened my arms around her when she didn't stop crying.

Ever since Anna had her second surgery in the hospital, she had been waking a couple times a night with nightmares from what happened in my apartment that night. I was having them also, but mine weren't as bad as Anna's were. The worst night she had was the first night home from the hospital. It took me almost half the night to calm her down enough for her to lie back down with me in bed. I spent the rest of that night in bed watching her sleep. Any time she woke after a nightmare, I did my best to make sure that when she realized she was awake, she found I was holding her. Over the past couple nights, her nightmares seemed to be fading. She went from waking up half a dozen times a night to about once a night. She slept soundly last night and didn't wake up until the cat got in bed with us, alerting us to the fact she needed cat food in her bowl.

I carried Anna back to our bedroom and put her down gently in the bed. As I picked the covers up and covered her with them, Danilla got in bed next to Anna and stared purring. Anna started to pet her cat as I told her I'd be right back. I went back to the kitchen and fixed her a glass of water and brought it back to her. She took the glass from me and drank about half of the water before putting it on the nightstand as I turned the lights back off and I got in bed next to her. When Danilla hissed and ran off, Anna moved herself as close to me as she could without actually being on top of me. I felt her sigh under the covers as I positioned myself against her back. I put my right arm across her waist and got my left arm under her and rested my forearm against her chest with my hand across her injured right shoulder. "Better?"

"I was until now. I just…I just wish I could get them to stop. I know he's dead. I know he can't hurt us anymore. I don't want to close my eyes because every time I do, I have flashbacks of that night. I want it to go back to normal. I'm tired of being afraid of going to sleep."

I tightened my hold on Anna as I felt her move closer to me. I kissed her on the back of her neck, "I love you, Anna. I'm here. Try closing your eyes. I won't let you go tonight. I promise."

"I love you too, Nicky." Anna shifted her weight enough for me to let go of her. She reached over to her nightstand and turned her iPod docking station on and after finding the playlist she wanted, she hit the button on the iPod and a few seconds later, Renee Fleming's soprano voice was singing a Puccini song from one of the playlists that Anna listened to a lot.

Anna covered herself back up and I held onto her again as she tried to go back to sleep. I recognized the playlist after the first song was over with as one of the playlists that I played for her while she was in the hospital as I was waiting on her to wake up from her second surgery. I held her tighter as I felt her relax. After the fourth song, Anna's breathing became steady and deep and I knew she was finally asleep. I let the iPod play on in the background as I kept my vigil on Anna while she slept.

She didn't wake up again during the night and I fell asleep before the iPod played the last song in the playlist. When we woke up the next morning, the only sounds we heard were a few birds chirping outside of our bedroom windows and the box fan running in the corner of our room. After turning her iPod docking station off, Anna got in the shower with me and as she braced her right arm with her left, I helped her wash her hair. She wasn't able to use her right arm much and still needed my help. I helped her get dressed afterwards and we left the house, headed to Anna's Friday physical therapy session. I left Anna at the hospital while I went to the lab to turn in the medical clearance paperwork I had to have completed before I could return to work. The last PT session Anna had at the hospital was when I scheduled my appointment. The doctor spent barely thirty seconds in the room with me before he signed the form and handed it back to me.

"Nick!"

I didn't even have to look as I got out of my truck. I knew who that voice belonged to. "Hey Cath."

Catherine pulled me into a hug, "Miss you. What are you doing here?" She looked through the windshield of my truck. "Where's Anna? She okay?"

"Where's Anna? She's at her physical therapy session at the outpatient clinic at Desert Palms. I had to bring the medical release form to Grissom so I could come back to work later on. As to how she is, well…" I exhaled sharply, "That's…that's a bit harder to explain. That's a loaded question."

Catherine started walking towards the entrance of the lab as I followed, "What's wrong? Did Anna have complications from her surgery or something? Is she back in the hospital?"

I opened the door for Catherine as she stepped inside the lobby. "No, in that aspect, she's fine. She's had several MRIs done earlier and everything looks fine with those. She's healing on the outside as can be expected. It's how she's healing on the inside that has me worried. The first night after we got home, she woke up about half a dozen times, screaming. She was having nightmares that Nigel was coming back to finish what he started."

Catherine waved her badge in front of the reader to unlock the door in the lobby that opened into the hallway leading back to the lab and let herself in as she held the door open for me, "Nick, that's normal given what she's been through. Is she seeing anyone? Like a psychiatrist or something?"

"Yeah, she's seeing one. I have to see one also as part of me being released to come back to work. The department won't let her come back to work until she finishes both parts anyway but as it is now, she can't go back because of her shoulder injury. It's going to be another few months before she's cleared physically to go back to work, but right now, I'm just worried about her emotional state. Granted the nightmares aren't coming as frequently as they were, but when they do hit, she's still waking up in the middle of the night screaming."

"And all of this started when?"

"The hospital." I pulled another door open in the hallway and held it for Catherine and waited on her to walk through it before I continued, "The nightmares started in the hospital after her second surgery and I don't even have to ask her what she's dreaming about. I know. What I don't know is how to help her. I'm clueless on that end."

Catherine opened the door to Grissom's office long enough to put a couple of files in the box on his desk. His Big Mouth Billy Bass above the door started singing, "I hate that fish." She dropped the files on Grissom's desk and started to close the door, "Be there for her. Comfort her however you can and let her know that she's safe with you. It's gonna take time for her. That's all I can tell you. Just be there for her and let her know you will be there for her always and no matter what. There's not a magic wand or a pill that can make what happened that night go away. I wish there was. I'd let you know where to find it. It hurts me to see her go through that so I can imagine how it makes you feel. We have to see behavior like that enough as it is with this job and we're taught to disassociate ourselves from the victims in order to help them, but in this case, we both know you can't do that where Anna is concerned."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me to do. Just be there for her and I am going to be. I'm not going anywhere but I just feel so helpless when she wakes up at night, covered in sweat and screaming because she had another dream Nigel where came back and killed me before she could save my life."

"Just give it time, Nick. That's all anyone will tell you to do." Catherine said she'd catch up with us later as we parted company as she went one direction and I went to go find Grissom. I looked in ballistics and in trace but he wasn't there as well as in a few more places with no luck. Finally, I went back to his office and was about to leave him a note on his desk when I saw him approaching. "Hey, Griss." I held out the forms. "Brought these by for you. All filled out so I can come back to work later on this week."

He took the forms from me, "Thanks, Nick. You do know if you need additional time off, you can have as much as you want." He opened the door to his office and told me to come in and when we did, that fish started singing again, "Ecklie and I told you to take as much time off as you need. We're not pushing you to come back. We both know what happened and if you need more time, it's yours." He pulled his chair out and sat down and after moving some files that were left on his desk, he found a place to set the stack of papers he was holding, "You're sure you're not rushing this, are you? What does Anna think?"

The fish had finally shut up by the time he finished speaking. I was thrilled. I hated that fish almost as much as Catherine did, but Grissom loved it. "Anna thinks that I should go back whenever I'm ready. She's not going to be cleared medically to go back to work herself for another couple months. She can't bend or lift anything and still has limited use of her right arm, but she has been cleared to drive. There's no way she'd be able to go back to work before the end of the summer. She's on medical leave from the department and we both don't think I'm rushing this. Anna told me to go back to work when I felt comfortable in doing so."

"Like we said, it's your choice. Guess we'll see you in a couple days then?"

"I'll be here."

"Bring her by when you can." Grissom pointed over his shoulder to the tank where the tarantula that had Anna's middle name was kept, "Gabby misses her."

"Uh, sure. I'll bring her by just as long as you don't bring that spider by for a visit." While Anna was in the hospital, Grissom did sneak that spider in to see her. I made sure to keep my distance as did Bryan who was in the room at the same time. After telling Grissom goodbye, I left him in his office and went back to the hospital to get Anna.

I went up to the floor where Anna was and stood in the doorway of the room. From where I was watching, I could se that Anna was still giving her therapist the evil eye as she was doing some work with free weights. I watched and had to hide a smile as the therapist handed Anna a heavier weight. I could tell by looking at her that Anna was either contemplating accidently dropping the weight on the woman's foot or she was coming up with ways to kill her physical therapist using that weight. Anna did her reps and the therapist took the weight back from her and said she was done and that she'd see her Monday. Anna looked relieved to finally be done with the therapy for the day. We stopped and got lunch before we went back to Anna's house.

The rest of the night passed quickly. Anna and I stayed up all night together so I could get back in the habit of sleeping during the day again. We watched a midnight movie on Saturday night and stopped and ate at one of the casinos on our way back home. By Sunday, we were both exhausted and spent the day at home. Monday was my regular off day, but Grissom had said Sara was out of town attending a conference and had asked me to come in a day early.

Anna said she'd be fine while I was at work. I was a little hesitant to leave her, but she said Bryan was off that night and if she needed anything, she'd call him. I told her to call me if she had any problems, no matter what. After I got to the lab, Warrick and I got assigned to work a robbery at a check cashing place and he and I passed the time quickly as we caught up while we worked. The store had video surveillance and when the clerk played the tape back for Warrick and me, we got a clear shot of the suspect. The clerk identified the guy as an ex boyfriend of hers and after we passed the information along to Captain Brass, he called us about an hour later saying that the guy was under arrest and he needed our paperwork for the arrest so that the DA could file the charges. I told Warrick I'd handle that if he wanted to go back to the lab and get started processing.

I got to the station just as the uniforms had finished booking the man. After telling Brass I was here, I found an empty interrogation room at the station and filled out the scene reports we had to do. Warrick emailed me a form he had filled out at the lab. I printed that off and I finished up the paperwork that I had completed before I made extra copies for our records and another copy for the shift sergeant as well as the original which Brass would get. I dropped off one of the copies with the desk sergeant and made my way towards Brass's office to drop off his copy of the investigation forms he needed for the DA to be able to file charges. I started to open the door, but I saw a dark haired woman sitting down. I stayed where I was until Captain Brass motioned for me to come in. I opened the door as I apologized for my interruption. "Excuse me, ma'am." I handed the forms to him, "Just dropping this off for that robbery earlier that Warrick and I worked. He emailed me his sheets and I printed them off and included them with mine."

Brass flipped to the second page of the report I filled out, "Warrick signed it this time, but you didn't."

"Sorry." He handed me the form back and gave me a pen. I found a spot on the filing cabinets next to the door and signed it, "Sorry about that."

"Thanks, Nick. I'll call you later on and let you know how it went." He stuck the signed forms in the folder on his desk and turned his attention back to the lady in his office as I left.

After I excused myself, but before I could make it out of his office, I had a weird feeling hit me. I turned to watch the door to Brass's office shut behind me and at the exact moment the door clicked shut, the dark haired lady in Brass's office turned to watch me through the window just beside the door. Something about her eyes made me wonder if I had met her before. I shook the feeling off as I got ready to leave the police department. I told the receptionist at the desk to have a good day as I left the station. I checked my watch as I got in my truck. I had just under two hours to get back to the lab to help Warrick finish processing, clock out and head home so I could see Anna before she left for her Monday therapy session. She had another MRI scheduled before her therapy appointment and I knew she'd be leaving earlier than normal to get that handled.

I made it back to the lab and got everything done with about half an hour left to spare. I was just getting ready to start my truck to leave when I realized before I left that I needed to tell Grissom something about the case we worked last night. "le Damn." I made short distance of the sidewalk leading up to the entrance of the lab.

"Forget something?"

"Yeah, I did. Can you buzz me in? I left my badge in my truck and I'm in a hurry. Anna's physical therapy session is in a little bit and I wanted to see her before she leaves. I'll probably be asleep by the time she gets back."

Judy pushed the button under her desk to let me in, "Tell her I said hi."

"Will do." I picked up the pace again as I made it through the hallway trying to find Grissom. I checked his office and of course, he wasn't there. I looked in a few more of the offices, but didn't see him in any of them. Running out of time, I went back to his office and wrote a note telling him about the case from last night.

" _Nick Stokes, you have a visitor in the reception area. Nick Stokes to the reception area.'_

I threw the pen on Grissom's desk as I stuck the note to his phone receiver, "Judy, why do you do this to me? You know I'm on my way out." I left Grissom's office and retraced my previous steps so I could see who was in the lobby on my way out the door, wondering the whole time who needed to see me.

I checked my watch once I got to the door at the lobby and hoped this was going to be quick as I had to get out of here before I was late. "Judy, who's here for me?" She pointed to a lady sitting down in one of the chairs in the corner of the room. "May I help you?" I tried to remember if I had seen this woman before or if she was connected to one of the cases I was working, but I was drawing a blank.

She looked at me strangely as if she was expecting someone other than me, "Are you Nick Stokes?"

"I am. How can I help you?"

The lady stood up, "You don't know me and I'm sorry for barging in on you like this, but I wondered if I can speak to you a moment. I saw you earlier in Captain Brass's office at the police station. I was in there when you came in."

"Right." I remembered now where I knew her from, "Sorry about the interruption."

"No problem. My name is Renee. Renee Willis." She held her hand out and I shook it. I was staring at her, trying to place her. I was running through reports and incident notes in my mind, trying to put her name with any of the cases I had open, but was drawing a blank, "I know you're trying to find out where you know me from, but you don't know me." She looked at me for a moment before speaking. The way she looked at me made me wonder if she was trying to decide whether or not to tell me who she was, "You know my brother." She sighed, "Well, knew at least. I believe you knew my brother would be the correct way to word that. My brother's name was Nigel Crane."

**A/N: Betcha didn't see that one coming…Told you I wasn't done telling this story… Insert that evil maniacal laughing sound that Hodges made at the beginning of You Kill Me when Archie 'died' at the beginning of the episode.**

**I also know that on the show Nigel didn't die for one and secondly, according to the printout Grissom read in the episode and the same one I quoted in an earlier chapter, Nigel had no family, but as you can tell, I'm changing that. It *is* possible in real life for a report like that to show no family but the person has family members living in another state.**

**The courtroom dialogue that Anna had in the first part of the story was based on a case that I heard while I was in court for a former job that I had ages ago. I had to go to court often because of my job and I heard a lot of cases then.**

**Reviews please.**


	14. Intervention

**Chapter 14 – Intervention**

I froze as what this lady just told me started to register with my brain. It caught me off guard when I realized who she was and the name she just mentioned to me. It was the same name that started Anna and me down the path we were on. It was the same name that had Anna waking up during the night screaming and crying after a nightmare. It was the same name that Anna and I would give anything we had to forget. It was the same name that neither of us wanted to hear again. I took a step back from the dark haired woman in front of me, "Ma'am, I'm not sure if this is…"

She cut me off, "Please. I know what you must be thinking right now after I dropped a bomb on you like that but I just need to say one thing to you and I'll be on my way. I promise you, I'm not here to cause any problems. I just needed to speak to you before I left Vegas and went back home."

Against my better judgment, I handed her a visitors' badge off of Judy's desk and opened the door and brought her in the lab. As we were walking back to the conference room where I wanted to take her, I happened to notice that the ballistics lab was empty. I decided to hear what she had to say in there as I figured if she wound up being as insane as her brother was, Bobby Dawson would have something in there that I could use to defend myself along with my service weapon.

I told her to have a seat at the table in the center of Bobby's office as I shut the door behind us. Renee took a deep breath and pulled a chair out from the table and sat down.

Just in case she was as insane as her dead brother, I put a few feet in between the two of us as I stood by the door as I unsnapped the holster on my gun. I started to look around the room for anything I could use in the event I needed to defend myself in case I needed a backup weapon and noticed the gun cabinet behind where she was sitting. It was locked and I wouldn't have enough time to get anything out but there was a baseball bat sticking out from a gym bag that was next to Bobby's desk. I had forgotten that he played on the department baseball team. Keeping my eye on that bat, I mentally decided to use my gun first and then reach for the bat later if necessary. I backed up closer to the door and put my hands behind my back with my left hand on the door knob. "Now how can I help you?"

"I know some of what happened to you and what my brother did to you and I know it doesn't mean much, but I'm sorry. I got the call a few weeks ago after the incident happened. The police had a bit of trouble tracking down next of kin and finally found me after going through his phone records. I've been in Vegas a week now." Renee unfolded her arms and laid her hands on the table, "Captain Brass was going over some of the details at the station when I first saw you. I have a lot of questions myself and the answers I got were pretty vague seeing as how he died. I'll never know why he did what he did to you, but I came to Vegas to finish up with what he left behind and to get answers to some questions I had. I was at the station earlier because I was just trying to get a better understanding on why this happened. As I told Captain Brass, my brother has had a long history of mental illness ever since he was a child. He moved out here from Georgia about fifteen years ago after having a falling out with the family. He's been doing well until recently and then something happened."

I stayed where I was, keeping the distance between the two of us while keeping sight of the bat visible in my peripheral vision and my hand still behind my back as it rested on the door handle, "I'm not sure what it is you want from me. What was it you wanted to tell me? Why are you here?"

"I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. I understand my brother attacked your girlfriend as well? Captain Brass said she was at the house with you that night?"

"Yeah. She was and he did." I kept my answers as short as possible without getting into too many details. Considering who her brother was, I felt I was justified in not trusting this woman any farther than I could pick her up and throw her.

Renee's fists tightened when I confirmed what had happened to Anna, causing me to shift my weight to the foot closest to the baseball bat, "I'm sorry for what happened to her as well. My brother has always been fascinated with law enforcement work. He never could pass the psych exam or he would have gotten on the force himself. Nigel tried a few times when he lived in Georgia and once before he moved to Las Vegas. He's been fine up until...well...that night. I'm guessing he met you somehow?"

"Yeah, he installed my cable."

Renee looked at me with compassion in her eyes. When I saw that look, I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and hear her out, but I still kept my guard up and my hand on the doorknob and my eye on the bat just in case. After what happened to Anna and me, I was still uneasy about being in a room four feet from the sister of the man who tried to kill me and almost took Anna away from me. "That's how I figured he met you. Nigel met a lot of people that way. Most of the time, he couldn't stand them, but there were several people he did take a liking to and you were one of them. I never understood why some people irritated him so much and other people, he idolized. He called me not too long after that and said that he had made a new friend and he was feeling great. I didn't realize at the time that he was as unstable as he was. To me, it sounded like he was finally settling down in his life and all of the therapy and medications were finally starting to take hold and start working. He was so happy that he got a chance to meet you that day and how the two of you became friends. He didn't mention your girlfriend until about a month or so ago. He said that every time she was around you, you didn't recognize him. I tried to reason with him, but he didn't listen. When he got that way, he wouldn't listen to anyone. He was a completely different person than the Nigel I knew. He just kept going on and on about how angry he was with you. I should have done something then, but I didn't. I just never imagined that he'd do anything like this. Nigel never has acted out this violently until now."

"I didn't recognize him. He was only at my house for an hour maybe and the day he was there, my girlfriend was really sick and I kept checking on her on top of the fact that I was working a huge case and was engrossed in that most of the morning. At the time he was in my apartment, my girlfriend couldn't hold anything down and I was concerned with her becoming dehydrated because of a high fever. I kept checking on her through the day and into the night. I don't understand the connection he said we had. I was told after the fact that he kept a video diary and that's how the other CSIs I work with found out he was the one who attacked me, then a week later, he broke into my apartment, shot my girlfriend and almost killed her. All of that happened before he had me on my knees as he was about to kill me as well."

Renee started to stand up. She shoved the chair back under the desk, but didn't move right away. I slowly turned the door knob in my hand, but didn't open the door. I decided I'd open the door and run for it and if she followed me, that'd give me enough time to unholster my weapon and start shooting, "I didn't know. Your girlfriend? How is she? Did he, um…is she…?"

"No, she's not dead. He shot her twice and she was in the hospital about a month, but she's back home now. She'll be fine eventually I hope. She's got to have some physical therapy for her injuries, but she should be fine in that aspect at least."

She looked relieved, "Good. Glad to hear that went well for you, and again, I'm terribly sorry. I'll only be in town a few more days to tie up some loose ends with my brother's apartment and job. I was told by Captain Brass that it was an officer involved shooting and when I requested a copy of the police report, I saw your first name but very little else. I was told I could only have an edited version of the report. Nigel sent me a copy of that newsletter that you were in and I made the connection that you must be the Nick he talked about. I will admit that I wanted to be angry with you for killing my brother. I tried to be. Nigel's touch had the timing and precision of a car wreck. Seems like every life he became a part of, he ripped it to shreds when he got bored or when he just didn't like it anymore. I didn't know if I wanted to ever meet you, but when you came in the office last night I had a completely different picture of you in my head and again, I'm sorry for what happened. I just wish I would have realized my brother was as unstable as he was and I wish I would have stopped him before all of this happened."

"I don't think any of us had any idea he was like this. I also wasn't aware he had a sister. According to what we found, he didn't have any family."

Renee shook her head, "No, you wouldn't have found any family members. The way he explained it, he doesn't have any family left. Well, at least not in the family he considered his family sense other than me. Nigel was adopted."

That was a shock, "Adopted?"

"Yes. He didn't have any biological family members still alive. My parents adopted him when he was about two years old. His biological parents and his biological brother and sister were killed in a house fire when Nigel was about two and he was the only one to survive. For some reason, and to this date it still baffles me as well as fire experts, the fire destroyed the house. It destroyed every room in the house but his room. He was safe. The door was closed and the window was closed and his room didn't burn. The door held the fire off. Every other door in the house was burned through and the contents in the room destroyed, but Nigel's room wasn't. It was almost like he had this shield or something around him that protected him that day. Neighbors had gathered outside and told the firemen that there were three children plus their parents inside. The firemen found the parents first and found Nigel's biological brother and sister next but they couldn't be saved. According to my father, one of the neighbors told one of the firemen that Nigel was still missing and his room was in the back of the house but the back of the house was where the fire started. The firemen all thought Nigel was dead like his family, but when they were doing a room by room sweep of the house after they got there and when they started to put the fire out, they found him alive. Every room in the house were destroyed, but when firemen opened the door to Nigel's room, he was in his crib, crying. The newspaper covered the story and called it a miracle he was still alive. The temperature in his room didn't ever reach a level that could kill him though the fire was right below his room. The firemen rescued him out of the house and took him to the hospital. My father was a pediatrician there and when he heard Nigel's story from the firemen after they brought him to the hospital, he asked if he had any living relatives and when my father found out Nigel was the only survivor, my parents adopted him."

"That explains why he felt he never belonged."

"Mostly, yes. Nigel's name was changed to Willis when he was adopted to match our last names but when he turned eighteen and graduated high school, Nigel found out that his real name was Crane and had it legally changed back. After that, he just went down hill. I have another sister and three older brothers, but none of them could stand Nigel. I was the only one he'd talk to. He even shut out my parents when he turned eighteen saying he was angry with them for denying him the chance to grow up how he was supposed to so after that, he packed up and left Georgia and never came back."

"Where'd he go?"

"Florida first. He wanted to be near the beach. Then after that, he abruptly moved to Nebraska before finally settling on Las Vegas. He didn't believe the story behind how my parents adopted him and it was almost like he blamed all of us for the fire that night that killed his biological family. For some reason, he never blamed me and I don't know why. I never did ask him why either. I would have liked to know now, but I never will know why now I guess. My parents showed him photos of the house but he just couldn't believe it and I thought it was a bit strange myself, but why would they lie about something like that?"

"I can believe the story. I've seen a lot of stuff thanks to this job that I would have never believed until now. Stuff like that can happen, even if we don't know why. My girlfriend's a firefighter for the LVFD. I'm sure she's got stories to tell and like I said, I've seen a lot in my years here. I would have been just as skeptical had it not been for this job."

"Thanks for listening to me and not judging me." Renee held her hand out. I kept my left hand behind my back, still on the door knob, but shook her hand with my right hand. "I appreciate you taking the time to allow me to tell you how sorry I am and would you please relay my message to your girlfriend about how sorry I am over this. I'm just sick with guilt because I now know that if I would have just stopped and came out here when Nigel called me when he started ranting about your girlfriend that I could have stopped all of this, but I just…"

I interrupted her, "No one did and I'll relay the message to her. Are you leaving Vegas tonight?"

"No. I've still got a few more things to do here in Vegas before I leave. I'll be gone in a few days. I know that I still have to clean out Nigel's apartment and he had a storage unit as well. Most of his stuff I'll probably just donate to charity, but I wanted to look through it just in case before I did. Thank you again for taking the time to talk to me. I hope I didn't keep you from anything."

I opened the door to Bobby's office and stepped into the hall as I held the door open for Renee. "It's okay and you're welcome." I checked a clock on the wall in one of the labs as I was leading her back up front. It was past ten in the morning and I knew Anna was already gone for the day. I led Renee out and watched from the safety of the lab as she got in her car and drove away. I dropped the visitors' badge on Judy's desk before I left the lab and headed home.

I tried to wait up on Anna after I got home but I was so tired, I couldn't stay up any longer. I woke up a little after two in the afternoon when Anna got in bed with me after her physical therapy session. She said everything went fine and the MRI she had done showed her healing was progressing nicely and we both fell asleep until the alarm clock and Anna's cat woke us up when it was time for me to go to work.

On my first off night after I went back to work, I told Anna I was taking her out to eat at the steakhouse inside the Hotel Paris. Anna and I both loved coming here because it gave her a chance to speak French to the staff and I liked hearing her speak in French. Even though all of the employees at the hotel speak English, a lot of them spoke French as well to go along with the Parisian theme of the hotel. Every time we went there, it struck me as still being different to me to hear a language other than Spanish being used in Nevada.

The seating hostess I knew spoke English but since I liked hearing Anna speak in French, I let Anna tell the hostess that we wanted a table for two. I listened as the two of them spoke in fluent French as I watched and listened in. Anna's grandmother was from France but had moved to Montreal where her father was born. Her family moved to Arkansas and Anna was born there. Her grandmother lived with her parents and only spoke French so as a result, Anna had been teaching me some French.

"Merci beaucoup." Anna took my hand in hers as she started walking towards the bar after she told the hostess thank you, "She said it'll be about twenty minutes before we got a table. I told her we'd be over here. I need to sit down."

I led Anna over to the bar of the restaurant to sit down while we waited on our table. I pulled out a chair for her and she sat down as I stood next to her, "Can I ask you a question while we wait?"

"Um…of course." Anna watched me for a moment, "Why do I feel this question is either going to be so far out in left field I'm going to wonder why you're asking or you'll tell me some reason which will pacify me or it's a question I don't want to hear?"

"You've been doing the firefighter thing, what? Long time, right?"

"Yep." The bartender came over and Anna ordered a Sprite and I ordered a Coke. "Seems like just yesterday but you knew all that so why ask?"

"Have you ever seen a fire that happened at a house for instance and it just didn't feel right?" I tried to think of how to explain Nigel's situation without actually telling Anna who it was. "Not feels right as in it was arson, but I guess it didn't behave the way almost all other fires work. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, it does. When Bryan and I were in the academy at SanFran, we had to watch this video one of the first days we were in class. This guy narrated while he walked through this two story 'typical home in any suburban neighborhood' in the words he used to describe the house. It was a video about how fast a fire can spread. The guy dumped some ashes in a garbage can I think and within thirty seconds or so, the trash can was on fire and within ninety seconds, the couch, curtains and chair were engulfed but back then, polyurethane was used in the foam cushions which makes them combust faster than they do now and produces a pour pattern almost like it was arson as the polyurethane drips and splashes. Anyway, to skip to the weird part, as the guy was walking through the house before the fire was lit, he shut all the doors and narrated as he shut them, 'During the fire, this door will be closed.' Kitchen door, bathroom door, two doors downstairs from the living room and into the kitchen, four bedrooms upstairs and a bathroom door upstairs and kept repeating 'during the fire, this door will be closed.' Sometimes at night, I can still remember him walking through that house while he had on that suit that looked like it was made out of motel drapes and saying that line over and over again. Anyway, he shut them all. The whole house was wired with temperature controls and cameras to watch the fire burn as it happened. When the fire department came and put the fire out and the narrator guy went back through it and was showing the damage, this was where the weird part happened. The weird part was in one bedroom upstairs, the temperature in the bedroom never got above eighty degrees."

What Renee said to me earlier was starting to make sense, "So everything in that room was fine? What about the rest of the house?"

"Toast." The bartender brought Anna's Sprite to her and she took a drink as he set my Coke down on the bar next to Anna, "And I mean that literally. The house was toasted. The strange thing about that fire was they rebuilt the exact same house using the exact same specs and the exact same furniture and they never could reproduce those results again. The temperature readings in the living room showed that room to reach over two thousand degrees. The fire burned through the doors in the other rooms and burned the rooms and the ones it didn't burn, everything melted, but that one room was unscathed for that one fire. The next three times that house was set on fire, everything was destroyed." Anna took another drink, "Do I want to know why you just asked me that? Considering a career in arson?"

"No." I picked up my Coke, "Work related and I was just wondering if that was possible. Got conflicting statements on if something like that could happen or if it did happen, what were the circumstances."

Anna put her Sprite back down, "How many tornadoes did you see as a kid? I know living in Texas, y'all were pretty much like us. About every other week during the spring and November storm seasons, you're bending over to kiss your ass goodbye in the storm cellar. How many did you live through?"

I had to stop and think, "Several. Never did any damage though."

"Bryan and I were with his brother and sister at their grandparents' house in Oklahoma one spring while we were on spring break from school. I think Bryan and I were in third or fourth grade. I don't remember but a big storm came through and next thing we know, we're being carried downstairs to the basement. Bryan's sister and brother were yelling but I remember he and I were calm. We held hands and just sat there as the winds picked up. The tornado came and hit and it does not sound like a train in my opinion. Anyway, we come out a little bit later after the storm passed and out of the four buildings in the vicinity where the tornado came through, only one was destroyed. One house was leveled and the other three had cosmetic damages like a window blown out or a few shingles missing." Anna took another drink from her Sprite. "Point is, nature's funny. We know things like that can happen and do happen, but we don't know why."

"True." I checked my watch. "I'm gonna go check with the hostess. Be right back." I kissed Anna before I started towards the hostess. She said she had a table being cleaned right now and we could be seated in less than five minutes. I told her thank you using what little bit of French Anna taught me and started back towards the bar where Anna was.

As I got closer to Anna, I could see she was talking with someone. Anna was still at the bar but she had gotten up from the stool and was facing a woman and judging by her body language, she didn't want to be speaking to this woman. When I got closer to them, I recognized who it was Anna was talking to. "No." I looked over and saw Anna take a step back, "No. Please, no." I shoved someone out of my way as I hurried back to where Anna was. Renee was still in front of Anna, and I could tell by Anna's posture she wasn't pleased with her uninvited guest.

"I just wanted to say how sorry I was."

"You need to leave." I stood between Anna and Renee, "You need to leave now."

Renee tried to move around me to see Anna, but I kept Anna hidden behind me, "I just wanted to say how sorry I was for what happened. He was my brother and all, but, well. I'm sorry."

"You said your peace, now go. You had no right to confront Anna like this. She can't handle you right now." I turned around to watch Anna. She had her eyes closed and had brought her left hand across her eyes. I knew she was in shock or was about to be and this was the last thing Anna needed. Ignoring Renee behind me, I put my arms around Anna and hugged her tightly, "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."

"What the hell are you apologizing to her for? I'm the one with the dead brother. I'm the one that has been apologizing all week long to the two of you as well as everyone else I've seen and you tell me to leave you alone? You're the reason my brother isn't here anymore." Renee started to move to the side of me so she could see Anna, but I did my best to keep her behind me where she'd be shielded. I couldn't protect Anna from Nigel, but I knew I could protect her from Renee, "I just wanted to say how sorry I was to the two of you and this is it? This is how I'm treated? No wonder my brother hated you."

"You need…"

Anna interrupted me, "Excuse me?" She stayed behind me, but moved to my side where she could see Renee, but still far enough back to where Renee couldn't try anything without going through me first and I had a size advantage over Renee by at least six inches, "We owe you an apology for what? Because your brother was a psychotic homicidal lunatic who tried to kill me not once but twice and oh, yeah, there was that little part about trying to set me up for the MURDER of a girl that he killed that he worked with!" Anna took my hand and yanked me away from Renee, "Let's go. I'm not hungry anymore."

I started walking with Anna out of the restaurant while Renee followed us outside. I handed the ticket and a $10 bill to the valet and told him to run and get my truck. Renee started ranting again as Anna stood in front of me. Anna finally had enough and stepped out of my reach and stood about a foot in front of Renee, "Your brother was a delusional, unhinged man. He developed some sort of obsession with Nick after meeting him for all of thirty minutes one day. He decides I'm collateral and can be gotten rid of like an old newspaper. He killed a lady he worked with and left one of my shirts at a crime scene trying to implement me. If that wasn't enough, while he was in our home, he found out that I was allergic to peanut butter and tried to kill me with peanut butter. He then killed a second girl and made her over to look like a prom date of Nicky's from high school trying to make me jealous I guess. When that failed to get rid of me, he then broke into our home again, shot me twice and had Nick on the floor, getting ready to shoot him." Renee took a step back and Anna followed, getting right in her face. Renee easily had at least five inches and probably fifty pounds on Anna, but Anna was unnerved. She didn't back down easily and now was no exception, "If I wouldn't have shot that lunatic when I did, my boyfriend would be buried in the ground right now. Your brother almost took the man that I love from me and I don't regret for a second that I shot his sorry ass to save Nicky."

Renee took a step back and Anna matched her step, still staying in her face, "You were the one that shot my brother?"

"Yes. I did. I had to. He shot me twice and was getting ready to shoot Nick and this was after your brother threw him out a window. I saved Nick's life. You want to know what he said to me right before he shot me?" Renee said nothing but Anna continued, "He came out of the bathroom and said to me, 'I won.' He then shot me and I fell over on the floor. After I went up front to save Nick, guess what I said right before I shot him. Take a wild guess." Renee again said nothing, "I said 'No, I won.' That's when your demented brother raised the gun to shoot me again and I had no choice but to fire again. So the next time you want to get in someone's face, have all the facts first which clearly you don't have. Now leave us both the hell alone or I'll have you arrested for being just as unhinged as your dead brother. Do not cross me, woman, for I am in a foul disposition and you won't walk away unscathed."

The valet brought my truck to me and I grabbed Anna's hand and led her away from Renee before Anna's redheaded temper got the better of her and we wound up with a cat fight in the valet area of the hotel. Anna got in the passenger's seat with the help of one of the valets who had witnessed the showdown in the parking lot as I put another tip in the valet's hand that brought me my truck and I got in the driver's side so we could leave. In the rear view mirror, I watched as Renee stood where she was as she took in what Anna had told her. We left the hotel parking lot and it wasn't until we were back on Tropicana Boulevard heading home that I dared to break the silence, "You okay?"

As the lights from the casinos passed by, I could see that Anna had her eyes closed and she shook her head. "Define okay." She opened her eyes and reached for my hand. I held onto her hand tightly as she sighed, "I'm never going to be okay, Nick. Not like that at least." Anna looked out the window as the lights of the Strip faded behind us, "I'm never going to be like I was before all of this happened. I can't go back to that point in my life. I just have to, hell, I don't know what I have to do anymore. You never told me you saw her. Why?"

Even in the darkness of the truck as I drove home, I knew Anna could see the look I just made, "I know and I'm sorry." I held on to her hand tighter as I felt her fingers hold on to my hand just as tightly, "I should have told you about her, but I didn't. I'm sorry. I just, I…"

"Nicky, what?"

"I didn't think it'd help you any to know he had a sister or that she confronted me at the lab. I mean, I've never shot and killed anyone and God knows I pray I never have to make that decision and I'm so sorry to have put you in that position that you had to do that to save me and how I wish I would have done things differently, but I can't change that. I just didn't think that me telling you about her would make it any easier on you." I came to a stop sign and put my truck in park. I lifted the center console of the seat and took my seatbelt off and hit the button to undo Anna's and pulled her into a hug. "I didn't know if you could handle it and I'm sorry. I truly am sorry. I should have told you but I was only trying to protect you, especially since I couldn't do that the night you got shot."

"Nick, neither of us had any idea that I needed protecting." Anna let out a sob, "I just want this to be over with. All of it."

I saw headlights behind us and had to break the hug. I kept my hold on Anna's hand as we started again towards our house, "You never said that you said something back to him after he said something to you. You didn't tell Catherine and Greg this did you?"

"No. It's not something I'm proud of. When I shot him the first time, he fell and when he saw me, he got this look on his face like he knew he lost. It was strange. His face changed. He was in control when he had you on the ground and when he heard me, his face fell. He knew. He knew I won in the end and I think it upset him." Anna adjusted the strap of her sling before she continued, "Shoulder hurts really badly now. Anyway, after what he did to me, well what he did to both of us really, I figured I had the right to rub salt in his wounds and I did when I told him that I won and then I shot him. He didn't even try to fight back after I did. He just lay there on top of the psychic guy and he let go."

Anna and I got back home and she wanted to just curl up in bed and watch movies with me. I couldn't argue with that idea so I left her where she was to cook dinner since we didn't get a chance to eat at the restaurant because of Renee. I came back about half an hour with chicken spaghetti, one of her favorites. We spent the rest of what was left of my days off at home, hiding from the world. Anna seemed to be feeling better when I went back to work after the incident with Renee so I left it alone.

A week had passed after the confrontation with Renee at the Hotel Paris. Anna said she thought she saw Renee twice at the hospital as she was leaving her physical therapy session, but couldn't be sure from where she was standing. We went out a couple times during the last week and I didn't see her again, but I also knew I couldn't be around all the time. I had to work and we both knew this. She also knew I was only a phone call away and I could have the sheriff's office at her house in minutes. Since Anna didn't live in Las Vegas, but was still in Clark County, I had asked Brass to ask Ecklie to send some sheriff's office patrol cars by our house a few times during the night to keep an eye on things when I wasn't home. I was told that they'd go by as much as possible without causing a disturbance.

One night, Brass told me Ecklie wanted to see me. When I finally tracked him down, Ecklie said one of the patrol cars saw a strange blue car with Nevada plates slowing down in front of our house a few times, but when the patrol officer turned around came up behind the female driver, she drove off and since the officer had nothing to stop her for, he had to let her go. He couldn't tell from that angle if it was Renee or not but did say that the car tags came back to a car rental company in Las Vegas.

Three days after that incident, I was at work in the lab when my phone rang, "Anna? Are you okay?"

Her voice was blank, "No."

Something in Anna's voice set me off. She didn't sound right. "Sara, be right back." Sara didn't even bother to look up from the magnifying glass she was using but did raise her hand to show me she heard me as I stood up and left the office to go out in the hall to find an empty office so I could have some privacy, "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Is it something about your surgery?"

"No."

"Anna, tell me. What's wrong?" Something was off in her voice. "Anna?"

"I'm here in the lobby. Can you come get me? I need to talk to you for a minute."

"Give me thirty seconds." Hearing those words coming from anyone was never a good sign, but I shut the phone and shoved it down in my pocket as I hurried up front to the lobby. When I got to the glass door, Anna was sitting down on one of the chairs and was bent over with her left hand being used to prop her head up, "Anna?" I opened the door for her and she walked to me. I reached over Judy's desk and got a badge and handed it to Anna. She clipped it to her shirt and walked into the hallway with me but didn't say anything, "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"A ghost…" Anna stopped, "A ghost would be easier to deal with."

"Okay, you're making no sense and you're scaring the hell out of me. Come on. We need to find somewhere to talk that's private." I took her hand and with a little more force than necessary, I pulled her past the lab I was working in with Sara and into Grissom's office. Grissom and Warrick were out of town at a seminar so I knew we'd be able to speak freely without having to worry about someone coming in. I turned the lights on as I moved her away from the door and towards the back of Grissom's office. "Now what's wrong? Are you hurt? Do I need to leave work or something and take you to the hospital? Did something happen at home?"

Anna shook her head, "No, no. None of that. Renee found me again."

I felt my temper starting to flare up, "What?"

"You heard me, Nick. She found me again and confronted me a second time. She said she was going through Nigel's apartment and found some stuff that belonged to us and wanted to give it back. She was next to my truck outside Wal-Mart and she tried to give me a couple of trash bags and when I wouldn't take them from her, she threw them next to my truck. I told her to get rid of it as I didn't want whatever it was. I don't want anything back that he had that was ours. I threw the bags in a Goodwill donation bin outside the store. I don't need this. Damn it. It's bad enough I killed someone and now I've got to deal with the bastard's sister stalking me all over Las Vegas. Make it stop! I can't do this. I just can't do this anymore." Anna sat down on the couch in Grissom's office. I kneeled down in front of her and put my arms around her neck as she leaned her head on my shoulder and cried, "I can't."

Anna was beginning to scare me even more, "You can't do what?" Anna didn't look up. She kept her head down on my shoulder. "Anna, damn it, talk to me. You're scaring the hell out of me by telling me something like that and now is not a good time to shut down on me. Please, tell me."

Finally, I felt the weight of her head lift off of my shoulder ever so slightly. I loosened my grip around her neck and she sat up, "I can't deal with having to worry about looking over my shoulder and wondering if Renee is behind me with a pistol ready to finish what her brother started. I can't even go to the damn store to get medication that my surgeon called in because my shoulder is hurting because of that bastard without that woman confronting me. Nicky, make her stop. Just make it all stop." Anna put her head back down on my shoulder as she hid from the world, "I'm not strong enough."

"Anna, look at me." She lifted her head up again, "You are strong enough. You have been defying everyone since all of this happened. You shouldn't even be alive. You have defied everyone and I know for a fact you're strong enough. I will see what I can do about getting a restraining order against Renee for you. Brass is supposed to be here after while to pick up some evidence from the case Sara and I worked earlier in the evening. He's stopping by the jail to get the arrest reports then he'll be here. Do you want to stay here and wait or what?"

"No." Anna stood up and hugged me. She had hugged me hundreds of times before, but something about this one was different, but I didn't say anything to her about it and instead, put my arms around her and I held her tightly, "I have to go home."

"I'll walk you outside."

The two of us walked hand in hand in silence until we got to the lobby. Anna took the badge off of her shirt and handed it to Judy. I walked with Anna outside and she leaned into me once again for a hug, and again it felt different. "I love you, Nicky."

"Anna, promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Something's off. I don't know what it is, but promise me you're not going to do anything stupid."

Anna broke the hug, "Like what, kill myself?"

I met her eyes and held them before going on, "Well, honestly. Yeah."

"I'm not going to kill myself. I promise you. I could never do that to you. I'm not that mean." Anna got the keys to her Xterra out of her pocket, "I'm going home now."

"I love you, too, Anna. I'll see you later on when I get off work." Anna didn't say anything, "I can call in sick the rest of the shift if you want me to. I can come home with you."

Anna shook her head, "No, you're fine. I know you've had to take off a lot of work because of me. Go back in and finish the case, Nicky. I'll be okay." She held onto my hand as she started to turn away from me, her touch gradually slipping from my skin, "I promise."

I watched as she drove out of the parking lot and turned left onto the street she used to go home.

I busied myself with finishing up the case Sara and I had been assigned. When it finally came time to go home, I hurried out of the lab and got in my Tahoe to go home and check on Anna.

Half an hour later when I pulled into the driveway, Anna's Xterra was on the left side of the carport where she normally parked it. Everything appeared to be in place, but the nagging feeling she gave me when she left me at the lab still was present. I unlocked the door and Draco came skidding to a stop when her feet hit the tile floor in the living room. "Anna?" I petted the dog and she went back to the back of the house where she slept. "Anna?" The TV was on in the living room and Anna had left a glass of water on the end table. I picked it up and dumped it out in the sink before the cat knocked it over. I checked the bedroom and she wasn't there. I went to the sun room thinking she might be in there where it was quiet. Draco heard me come in and she started to thump her tail. "Where's mama?" Draco cocked her head to the side and looked at me, "Where's Anna?" Shebarked twice before settling back down in her bed and flipping upside down to take a nap.

I was beginning to get nervous when I happened to look again in our bedroom. Anna's laptop was on the table where it always was, but she never left it on. She always turned it off and put it away to keep the cat off of it. When I got to the table, I sat down in the chair and noticed a folded piece of paper next to the laptop. I picked up the piece of paper on the table and unfolded it. Anna's handwriting took up over half of the page. I held the paper in my hand and started to read.

_Dear Nicky_

_I know by the time you get home and see this, you've probably realized I'm not at home. No one kidnapped me and I'm not being held against my will. I am fine in that aspect, sort of. I didn't kill myself, either, nor do I plan to. I made you a promise._

_Too many thoughts are crammed into my head right now and I can't focus on anything. The memories of that night still play through my head and no matter what, they won't stop. I've tried to get them to stop. Nothing helps. I don't know what to do anymore. I just know that every time I turn around, I'm reminded of what happened and I just can't deal with that right now. I know it's not your fault and I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I do. I need to get past this somehow, but I'm not really sure how. I don't know how. I wish I did. I wish I knew what to do. All I know now is that I can't move on from this in Vegas right now. I have to do that somewhere else. I just don't know where yet._

_I'm sorry to have to do this to you, but I just need to get away for a while. I don't know where I'm going. I don't know when I'll be back, either. I didn't tell anyone I was leaving – not even Bryan. He would try to stop me and right now, I just needed to get away from everything. I know right now you're probably mad and upset with me, and I'm sorry. That's all I can say right now. I had no idea that this would affect me the way it did. I tried to get over it. The nightmares and the night terrors of that night are starting to fade off, but the memories haven't and Renee confronting us didn't help and then tonight at Wal-Mart didn't help, either. I just want them to stop. I want them to leave me alone. I don't want to hurt anymore._

_You can stay in the house as long as you want. Don't worry about the horses or the animals. I've hired someone to take care of that and the bills will be paid so you won't have to worry about coming home and the lights are out. I'm not that mean though right now, you may think otherwise._

_I'm not going to do anything stupid such as end my life. You have my word on that. I just need to get away for a while and figure out what to do next and figure a way around this mess. Right now, I'm having a hard time doing that in Las Vegas. I don't know where I can find the answers that I need, but I do know I can't find them here, at least not right now._

_When I have answers, I'll let you know what they are. Until then, please try to understand where I'm coming from and know how truly sorry I am._

_Please believe that things are good with me, even when they're not. They will be soon enough and I will believe the same about you._

_If you still love me, you won't try to find me, at least not right away. I know you'll want to and I can't stop you, but please, respect my wishes for the time being._

_I came by the lab tonight because I wanted to tell you goodbye. I wanted to see you once more before I left. I am sorry for this. I really am, but I just can't do this anymore._

-  _A_

I stared at the note in my hands. I felt my lungs start to constrict as my breathing became labored at what I just read started to sink in. I had to reread it twice before I could move. I let the note fall to the floor as I went back to our room. I opened the closet and found that her clothes were still in the closet. I checked the bathroom and everything was where it should be. Our house was left just the same every other day of her life. I opened the door to the sunroom where the pool was and it was empty. I shut the door behind me after checking to make sure the door stop that kept the door propped open for Draco was still in place. I found Danilla on the back of the couch, purring while she was sound asleep. A thought hit me as I grabbed my phone and dialed Anna's number, hoping she'd have her phone with her. I hit the send button on my phone.

' _Hi. We all know how these things work, so when you hear the beep, go for it.'_

I hit the end button on the phone and watched as after a few seconds, the backlight on the display went off. My phone slipped out of my hand and fell to the floor and bounced once and landed at the edge of the throw rug in the living room. I backed up until I came to the wall in the living room by the front door. I felt my knees begin to give out and started to slide down the wall. "No, Anna. No, no, no, no. Why?"

**A/N: I know in the "Stalker" episode, Grissom read the report that said 'no mention of any family,' but as you can tell, my version of Stalker is slightly different. Nice twist, huh?**

**I know I'm gonna be bombarded with hate mail about me doing this to Anna and Nick but the "happily ever after" romances didn't fit and IMO if I ended it that way, that'd be pretty much the whole story. I wouldn't be able to finish with what I have in mind for upcoming chapters, sooooo…All I will say is that the Anna/Nick storyline isn't over with yet and stay tuned and leave me some reviews, but no flames. I promise you, this story isn't over with. I've still got a lot more to write.**


	15. Endlessly

**Chapter 15 - Endlessly**

Out of breath from running, I was knocking on the door and was growing impatient with each second that passed with no answer. It was morning but the lights were on in the living room and the curtains were open so I hoped he'd be home. After knocking again and contemplating kicking the door in, the door finally opened. "Nick?"

"Cathy, is Bryan awake yet or is he still up? I need to talk to him."

"Yes, he's awake." She opened the door and stood to one side as I stepped in, "Are you okay?"

"No. Not really."

"You look awful." Cathy closed the door and turned to face me, "He got home from work a bit ago. He's giving Cody a bath. He and Cody had a food fight and Cody got syrup all over himself from breakfast. He should be close to being done by now, so wait right here. I'll get him."

I watched as she disappeared down the hall to get Bryan. I saw my reflection in a mirror by the door. I knew I looked awful. I felt awful. I started to pace back and forth in their den until I heard Bryan come in the room, calling out to Cody to get his clothes on as he looked at me before coming to a stop in front of me. "CSI Man? What's wrong?" I stayed where I was, unable to make a sound. "Nick?" Bryan rarely used my given name just as he rarely used Anna's. I knew he was like my mother when I was growing up; when my mother would call me Nicholas or when Bryan used my given name, I better pay attention. "Talk to me."

"It's..." I couldn't say the words. I couldn't even face what was going on even though it was true. Instead, I handed him the note Anna left. "Here. I can't."

Bryan sat down on a recliner in the room and reached over for his reading glasses and turned a lamp on. I continued my pacing as he read. "Aggie, damn it." He pulled his reading glasses off and threw them across the room, "Stupid, stupid woman."

Cathy came in just in time to see Bryan's temper flare up. "Bryan Alexander Brooks!" Bryan jumped at the sound of his name. "What if Cody was in the room? You could have hit him. His toys are over there and not only that but our son thinks it's proper to say 'dammit man!' after he drops something. His preschool teacher doesn't think that's funny and neither do I."

Bryan didn't even look up, "Read." He held the note out and Cathy took it and started to read. I stopped pacing long enough to watch her expression. "That's why I acted the way I did. She's an idiot. The best thing to ever happen to her is in our living room and she runs out on him. God, she's stupid. I'll kick her red headed ass next time I see her for doing this to you." Bryan looked up at me, "What happened?"

After she finished reading, Cathy handed the note back to me and sighed. I folded it and put it back in my pocket. "Nick, sit down. You look awful." Cathy moved some of Cody's toys off of the sofa and threw them into a basket at the edge of the room and picked up Bryan's reading glasses and put them on the table next to the chair Bryan was in, "Anna left and this was all she said? When did you find this? What happened?"

I took a seat on the couch as Cathy sat on the arm rest of the recliner Bryan was in. "I was at work earlier and Anna called. I could tell by how she sounded on the phone that something was wrong. She said she was up front and asked that I come get her. I did just that and she and I came back to an empty office to talk. She, uh, she..."

Cathy reached for a box of Kleenex on the end table and tossed it to me, "Here."

I caught it easily and took a couple out of the box and set it on the floor next to my feet. "Thanks." I took a deep breath and continued, "Anna said that Renee found her again and she confronted her at Wal-Mart."

"And Renee is?" Bryan looked confused, "I don't think she's ever mentioned anyone named Renee to me before."

"Anna didn't tell you who Renee was?" He shook his head. "She's Nigel Crane's adopted sister."

"Oh, shit." Bryan brought his hand up to his forehead in frustration, "Oh, shit, shit."

"Bryan!" Cathy hit Bryan's shoulder, "Really?"

"Sorry Cathy, but what else was I supposed to say?" Bryan rubbed the spot on his shoulder. "Aggie never mentioned anything to me about this Renee person."

"Anyway, she had confronted me at the lab not too long ago then saw Anna and me out and confronted us both. Anna told her where to go and I thought that was it. Just to err on the side of caution considering who we were dealing with, I had some patrol cars come by here a few times a night after I went back to work and they said they saw a car one night slow down in front of our house but they didn't know if it was Renee or not. Anna said she thought she saw Renee at the hospital a couple of times but she couldn't be sure. Earlier this morning, Anna was at Wal-Mart getting her medication for her shoulder. She just told me Renee had found some stuff of ours in Nigel's storage unit and apparently Renee thought she was doing us a favor by bringing it back to us. Anna never said what it was, only that she threw it in the Goodwill bin at Wal-Mart and left the store with Renee still yelling at her. After most of Anna's stuff that was taken as evidence was released, she wouldn't even go pick it up from the station. Anna told me to have the evidence clerk donate it somewhere. Nigel had stolen a lot of my clothes and I said to put my stuff with hers for donation. I didn't want any of my stuff back that he had, either. Anyway, after telling me that Renee found her and about the donation to the Goodwill bin, Anna started crying again and kept repeating that she couldn't do this anymore. That scared me pretty badly and I asked her to clarify what she meant. She said she couldn't go through the rest of her life wondering if Renee was standing behind her with a gun, ready to finish what her brother started. Renee was about as unhinged as her dead brother was and I can't say as I blame Anna. I offered to have her wait at the lab for Captain Brass to get there and she could file a report. I was gonna talk to him about getting a restraining order against Renee for both of us."

Bryan looked hurt, "When did she leave? Aggie didn't say anything to me which is strange. She tells me everything and always has ever since we could talk. I knew about the nightmares and everything but she didn't tell me about the sister."

"Then you know she's been waking up some, screaming because of nightmares but those seemed to be going away. I don't know for sure when she left. I knew when she left the lab and went to hug me, it felt different. Now I know why. She was telling me goodbye but I didn't hear it at the time. Do you have any idea where she'd go? Anything? Her family?"

"Nick, I doubt she's anywhere near her family. They're not close, so I doubt she'd go there. Anna's father is disappointed she didn't stay in Arkansas like her sister and get married and pop out kids. Now my parents, maybe. I'll call them and ask that if they see her to call me. She and my sister are pretty close, too. I'll call her as well as my brother. Cathy's parents are still in SanFran and I'll get her to call them just in case. Are you gonna try to find her? With you being who you are, you could have her found in no time."

I sighed, "I'm gonna try to see what I can find out without alerting anyone at work. Some of the resources I have at work I can use without a supervisor's approval. Some, I need approval for and I'd rather not attract attention just yet. Part of me wants to find out where she is and try to convince her to come back. Actually, all of me wants to find her but I'm torn. She hasn't even been gone a day and I am completely worthless already but she told me not to. You read it. What do I do? I have no doubt I could find her, but I also know she's smart enough not to be that obvious."

Bryan sighed, "Nick, if I were you, I'd..."

"Uncle Nicky?" I looked towards the side of the room. Cody was wearing mismatched pajamas and was standing in the doorway of the living room. The shirt had a Power Rangers character on it and the bottoms were Razorback print. "Where's Aunt Anna?" He came down the two steps from the hall into the living room where we were and stopped in front of me, "Uncle Nicky, why are you crying?"

"I, uh…" I couldn't finish my statement. I didn't know how Bryan and Cathy wanted to handle telling Cody that his aunt was gone.

Cody got up in my lap and put his arms around my neck, "I make it better."

I choked back my own tears as Cody hugged me. I tightened my arms around him as I tried to concentrate on anything to keep me from crying in front of him, "That helps. Thank you." He turned around and sat on the sofa next to me, "That helped a lot."

"Where's Aunt Anna?"

I looked at Cathy and Bryan, unsure how to tell their four year old that Anna left. "Well, Aunt Anna is...She's at...I think she's…" I went blank. I didn't want to tell him the truth but I also knew when Anna got shot and was in the hospital, Cathy and Bryan were very honest with Cody when he asked where Anna was and why she was in the hospital. They told him a bad person hurt Anna but she was being taken care of by Cathy. "Anna's not here, Cody. She's not here."

Cody looked like he was about to cry, "Did Aunt Anna go to mommy's work again? Did the bad man come back?"

"No, no. Nothing like that." I shook my head, "No. She's not in the hospital again. She took sort of a vacation. Aunt Anna needed some time to herself so she left."

Seeing I was stumbling with the right words, Cathy stepped in, "Honey, let's let daddy and Uncle Nicky talk. I'll tell you about Aunt Anna. You need to get dressed anyway." Cathy held out her hand and Cody took it and they left the living room to give us privacy to speak freely.

"So what do I do?" I rested my head in my hands as I stared at the floor, "She took me with her. I don't know. It's like we're two halves of the same person or something and when we're apart we...I'm just not happy. **"**

"I know you're not happy and neither is she. She's insanely stupid for doing this, but you will find her. Nick, she's smart enough not to take her own truck and I bet she left her phone and checkbook at home, right?"

I turned to him after taking a moment to breathe deeply. "Yeah. I already tried her cell. It was turned off and it was at home."

"Let me make some calls to the rest of my family. I'll give them the abbreviated version with a few details and just ask them to be on the look out for Anna. I'll see what I can find out. Just promise me you won't do anything stupid like give up."

I shook my head, "Funny. I told Anna the same thing earlier in the day when she came by and she told me she was going home. I made her swear she wouldn't hurt herself and she swore she wouldn't do anything stupid." I stood up and got ready to leave. "I won't. I promise."

I left Bryan's and walked back home. All I wanted to do was find Anna and hold her tightly and promise to protect her for the rest of her life. Instead, I found some pain pills she had left over and took a couple, hoping they'd knock me out but they had no effect on me. I stayed in bed almost two hours, tossing and turning before I got up. Frustrated with being groggy but not being able to sleep, I found my swim trunks and went to the back of the house where the lap pool was. Draco followed me back and got in her bed as she watched me get in the water and start swimming laps. I got about a mile done when I started breathing hard. I knew this was from more than just the workout I had given myself. It was from the pain of Anna being gone. Rather than risk drowning, I got out of the pool and got in the shower. After I was done, I dried off and went back to the bedroom and hoped I'd be able to sleep.

"CSI Man?"

About five hours after I finally fell asleep, Draco started barking, causing me to wake up. As I heard who ever it was call out to me again, I sat up in bed, "Hello?" I looked out the window and saw that it was dark outside as I started to reach for the drawer in the nightstand where I kept my gun. I couldn't tell from where I was who was parked in the driveway. "Bryan?"

"Yeah, it's me. For the love of God, don't shoot me. You didn't answer the phone or the door so I let myself in. Aggie gave me a key a long time ago. I don't know if she told you or not. I was worried about you when I couldn't get you on the phone, so I came over."

"Bryan, hang on. I'm not decent." I threw the covers off and stumbled getting out of bed. I tripped on the quilt and caught myself on the wall. "Crap." I grabbed a pair of gym shorts out of the dresser and put on a t-shirt before I went up front.

"You okay? Sounded like you kicked something."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I tripped and hit the wall. Coming." I rubbed the sore spot on my forehead and went up front to where Bryan was, "Please tell me you have some news. Anything."

"Unfortunately not. I can't stay long but I wanted to let you know I talked to my family. They haven't heard from Anna yet but they promise they'll call if they see her or if she stops by and I trust them. You have my word if she calls, I'll tell you. When she does call me, I'm sure she'll swear me to secrecy, but I'll tell you and I think she knows that. This is probably a stupid question, but how are you?"

"Bryan, I don't know. I'm not sure. There are so many things I'm not sure of in life, but with all certainty at this very minute, all I know is that I miss her and she hasn't even been gone that long. It's like she took me to the top of the tallest mountain, showed me the world and told me 'that's what you CAN'T have.' I don't understand."

"I know you don't. I wish I had better news for you but I promise you, I'll tell you if she calls me. I promise I'll tell you if I find out anything. You have my word on that. You want me to tell her something if she calls or anything? A message? A plea? A threat? A chance to intervene legally with blunt force trauma?"

"Yeah. Tell her I love her. Tell her I need her and that I'll need her more than she'll ever know until I stop breathing."

"Wow." Bryan a nodded silently with his eyes focused on me as he got ready to leave, "You really do love her."

"Yeah. I do."

"Love is kind of complicated, but I'll tell you this, the second you're willing to make yourself miserable to make someone else happy, that's love right there. Hold onto that. Nick, if your love for someone is true, then that person will always come back to you. I can't think of a truer person than you to be waiting on Anna when she finally pulls her head out of her ass and realizes how bad she screwed up by leaving you like she did and she will realize that and she will come back."

Bryan left after telling me he'd keep me updated. As I was locking the door behind him, I saw a picture of Anna and me on one of the shelves in the living room and I picked it up and held it in my hands. "Anna." I half-heartedly forced a smile before I felt the tears start to come back, "Promise me you won't hurt yourself. That's all I want. Just a promise that you will never forget me. Tell me I changed you somehow. Let me know that I had an impact on your life. Promise me that you will always remember me. Losing you was hard enough, but I don't want to live knowing I meant absolutely nothing to you." I put the picture on the floor next to me as I went to lie back on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

I had been in a state of morose solitude for a couple of hours when my phone started ringing, interrupting my thoughts, "Hello?"

"Nick? Where are you? You're late."

I pulled the phone away from my ear to check the time. "Damn, Grissom. I forgot what time it was. I got distracted."

"You don't get distracted, Nick." I didn't even have to be at the lab to see the disappointed look Grissom was giving me. I heard it in his voice over the phone, "What's wrong? Are you sick?"

"No, but I'm not coming in tonight. Something came up. Sorry I didn't give you enough notice, but I can't do it tonight." I went to lie back on the floor and my arm relaxed and bumped the picture I left on the floor. I picked it up and stared at it as I spoke. "If you have to write me up, I understand and I'll take a suspension if that's what I'm gonna get for this."

"Nick, I'm not planning on writing you up. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I gotta go. If I can't come in tomorrow night, I'll call."

"Nick, this isn't like..."

I didn't give Grissom a chance to finish the question. I snapped the phone shut and tossed it across the room. I knew I'd probably get written up but I didn't care anymore. I took some more pain pills Anna had left over and forced myself to go back to sleep.

I took the first four days off work after Anna left. The fifth and sixth days were my two off days and on the seventh day, I had to go back to work. I kept myself busy doing just enough work to get by until I could leave work and go home and back to bed. This went on for a week before I could tell everyone at work was beginning to suspect something was up.

It had been two weeks since Anna left and I had to start coming to terms with the fact I probably wouldn't see her again. I picked up an apartment rental guide on my way home, knowing I wouldn't be able to stay here forever. Anna would eventually sell the house and I couldn't buy it knowing it'd be filled with memories I couldn't live with for the rest of my life.

Trying to think as little as possible about the incidents of the days before, I tried to drag myself out of bed before my alarm clock went off. I was already fighting a losing battle with trying to get up after I woke up after another restless night. I gave in to the urge to stay in bed for a moment before I rolled over to check the time on the clock by the bed. As my eyes adjusted to the small table clock, it blinked once and went blank. The hall light I left on for the dog went dark and the air conditioner quit working as the blower inside the unit came to a stop. The house was silent. "Figures considering how dark my life has become lately. Darkness goes with anything."

I rolled back over in bed and closed my eyes as I tried to decide if I had enough time to go back to bed before my shift started or if I had to get up now before I was late to work. Whatever wiped the numbers from the clock face left nothing behind. There was no time according to the blank clock. In cell phone land, there was still time and the display on my phone read 22:23. After lying in bed another ten minutes, I opened the phone so I could use the backlight as a flashlight and threw the covers off of me and reluctantly made my way to the kitchen as the glow from my phone illuminated the path. Draco heard me get up and I let her out in the back yard from the door at the side of the house and continued my trek to the kitchen to find something with caffeine in it to help me wake up. Anna's cat came out of one of the side bedrooms and I felt her fur against my leg as she rushed past me on her way up front. As I entered the kitchen, the power came back on, causing Danilla to look over at me from her viewpoint in the window before she started to bathe herself. After leaving the phone on the bookcase by the door where my keys were, I came back to the kitchen and got a Coke out of the fridge and scratched the cat's ears while we both watched the dog through the kitchen window. She was chasing leaves in the back yard as I left the kitchen to go take a shower before work.

An hour and a shower later, I let Draco back inside and she went back to her bed in the sunroom at the back of the house. I checked to make sure she had kibble in her bucket and checked Danilla's bowl on my way back up front. Seeing that the cat needed food, I put the last little bit of cat food from the bag into her bowl and made a mental note to get cat food on my way home from work when my shift was over. I looked around the house once more to make sure I didn't forget anything before grabbing my phone and keys off the shelf and my work bag that was by the door and turning the lights off.

I stopped myself when I got to the living room and saw a picture of Anna and me that was sitting on a shelf in the bookcase by the door. It was from a charity event she went to and I went along with her. I sent a copy of that same picture to my parents a couple days after Anna got a copy of it from one of the firemen at the station. Anna was in her dress uniform and I was dressed for court. Anna was already going to be there by the time I got out of court and rather than be later than I already was, I just left court and went straight there as I was. "I don't know where you are, but I miss you, A. I've never heard a house sound so loud with memories. I see something that would make you laugh, or I hear a song that you'd listen to, or I think of something that would upset you, and it makes me want to laugh, and smile, and cry, all at once. I can't stop thinking of you." I flipped the switch up to take one last glance at the picture of us before turning the lights back off and locking the door.

Since I knew the rest of my team suspected something was wrong, I forced myself to be as normal as possible. Warrick and I got assigned to work an arson investigation on the not so good end of town. The investigation took up most of the night and I was actually glad for the extra work that arson cases required. The more I stayed busy, the less Anna was on my mind. Warrick and I had been at the scene about six hours collecting evidence before we decided we had finished and left to head back to the lab to start processing.

I listened mostly as we talked about a little bit of everything. I did my duty and nodded my head and interjected as needed with my own comments or stories, but for the most part, I kept my mind busy on the case and just listened to what he had to say. If I dared to let a lull hit in the conversation or in the work, memories of Anna kept coming back to me and that always turned me into a useless semi-conscious human being for the rest of the shift. I hadn't told anyone at work what was going on with Anna. The only two people who did know the truth were Bryan and Cathy. I didn't need anyone at work knowing what was going on. I knew Warrick well enough to know that he knew something was up with me, but he didn't come out and ask me about what was wrong or why I was acting the way I was acting and I didn't volunteer any information. When he did try to find out what was going on with me, I either changed the subject or I just told him I had some stuff on my mind and technically, that wasn't a lie.

"Nick?"

I looked up from the microscope to see Captain Brass leaning against the doorframe of the lab, "What's up?"

He let himself in the room and stopped in front of the table I was at. I watched as he flipped to a page in the folder in his hands and handed me a form, "Need you to sign this. Also, you interview the owner of the house at the scene? His name is Jason McBride. Did he say anything to either of you at all?"

I signed the evidence collection form and handed it back to him, "Did we interview the owner of the house? That's, well…That's a really good question." I heard Warrick behind me start to laugh, "Well, sort of." I looked back over my shoulder at Warrick who was still laughing as he remembered the colorful way the owner answered our questions when tried to interview him about what happened, "We asked him what his story was concerning his whereabouts when the fire started and what he saw. He had a few colorful words for us both before he went on to suggest I perform sexual intercourse upon my own person and then he implied that my mother and my sisters were ladies of questionable breeding. Of course, how I worded it was a lot nicer and more eloquently worded than the way he addressed Warrick and me."

"That's basically what he told us. He wasn't exactly very forthcoming with any information that might exonerate him. We talked with the neighbors and they said that he's getting a divorce from his wife. Imagine that?"

I laughed, "And he's such a catch, too. Crying shame my sisters are married. He'd be a perfect husband material."

"Anyway, neighbors told me that he and the soon to be ex had a court date earlier in the week. He was apparently told to split everything equally, including the house. Guess he figured he'd burn his half of the house to the ground and divide it up that way. You two get anything yet?"

Warrick handed Brass the paper he had just printed out, "Hodges just emailed this to me and asked that I give it to you when I saw you. Accelerant in the woodwork in the living room, pour patterns on the floor in one of the rooms off of the kitchen. According to Hodges, and I quote, 'Unless we uncover evidence that he kept parked cars in his dining room next to a gas station in his kitchen and the petrol refinery in his living room, this guy did it and wanted to make sure the whole world knew that he started the fire. No questions asked.' That's pretty much what Nick and I thought when we were here. Ceilings were pulled down and the furniture was piled in the center of the rooms. I knew when Nick and I were there, we smelled gasoline. There's no doubt in my mind that he did this on purpose."

"Thanks. Let me know if you find anything else." Brass left the office, headed back to the police station to finish his interrogation of the suspect.

Warrick and I got back to processing. We started our conversation again as we worked. I let the conversation drift to wherever it went as long as it didn't involve a certain redhead who was gone from my life. Any time he started to steer the conversation towards Anna, I changed the subject. He started on something else that was Anna related when I interrupted him, "You hungry? I just realized I haven't eaten since I got here."

He shook his head, "Nah, I got something out of the machine earlier. If you want to go grab a bite, go or if you want, go call Anna to bring you something. I haven't seen her in a while and she can bring me something if she's stopping by to see you."

' _Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes to the reception lobby. Warrick Brown and Nick Stokes to the reception lobby. Thank you.'_

"Thank you, Jesus." I looked up at the PA speaker, thankful for the divine intervention from above.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." I was glad Warrick didn't hear that comment I made. He'd want an explanation and I couldn't give him one that didn't involve me telling him Anna was gone. I looked up and stared at the PA speaker in the ceiling above my head again, saying a silent bit of thanks for the interruption. I started to get up, but really didn't feel like going, "Think you can handle this? See who it is? If it's someone who needs both of us, can you bring them back here? Not feeling real sociable right now and if at all possible, I'd prefer to just stay hidden, especially if it's a victim or something from a crime we worked. Can you cover for me, please?"

"Sure." Warrick gave me a look as he got up from the computer he working at, "I got it. Be right back."

As I watched as Warrick left the office to head up front to see who needed us, I got another look from him. I understood the look he gave me and he didn't even have to say anything. I figured it was probably a victim of a crime we had worked in the past who was looking for an update and I just didn't feel sociable right now.

Normally when it came to dealing with the victim or the victim's families needing answers, everyone up here always wanted me to do it. Grissom told me in the past that I was one of the best employees he knew about making someone feel at ease or having to reassure someone that we were doing all we could. Warrick knew this and knew that I didn't mind talking to someone, but judging from the look he gave me, he knew something was up and that my something was a lot bigger than what I had let on. I'd eventually have to tell him, but I didn't want to right now. The only thing I wanted to do was go home, but even then, the thought of going home didn't seem satisfying anymore and it hadn't been in the fifteen days since Anna left me. What I really wanted to do was find Anna, but as hard as it was, I was respecting her wishes.

I had used the resources at work to flag her driver's license as well as her credit cards. So far, she only used her credit card once in Utah at a gas station and I got notification that she got a warning for rolling through a stop sign in Colorado but that was it. I called the station and requested the surveillance footage be emailed to me and the clerk obliged and as I watched the footage from my laptop at home, I couldn't help but feel every emotion I had known wash over me. Anna only bought some gas and a Mountain Dew and wasn't in there for that long, but I must have watched that footage a hundred times. She had on a dark sweatshirt over pink running pants and had her hair pulled back in a ponytail. Keeping her head down, she kept her face hidden from the camera, but did glance up once at it on her way out. I replayed that portion of the footage over and over again, knowing she looked up on purpose. She could have kept her head down the entire time she was in the store, but at the last minute, I watched the video as she paused ever so slightly and looked up before picking up the bottle of Mountain Dew she had purchased and left the store.

Following the footage from another camera, I did get lucky that the outside camera caught a license plate on a car she had. When I got the PD to run the plates, it was a rental car she had picked up from McCarran International Airport here in town. I shared the info with Bryan and he told me that he knew Anna was smart enough to stay out of sight if she wanted to and she probably did this on purpose, knowing I'd find out where she was and knowing I'd get the video footage.

With each passing day bringing me no news about how she was or where she was, it got harder and harder to focus on my job, but I had to. My job was all I had left next to the hope Anna would come back or at the very least, call me and let me know where we stand.

I caught myself staring at doors at home, imagining her opening the door and smiling at me when she saw me waiting on her. Even when I was lying in bed, begging my mind to cooperate with my body and give me the sleep I desperately needed, I would hear a car pass by on the road outside and for a brief second, my mind thought it could be Anna. After the car passed and the door never opened, my heart would sink lower and lower with each event that turned out to be another disappointment.

I started to stare at the door to the room I was in, just imagining looking up after hearing a knock on the glass only to see her waving at me from the other side of the window. The last time she did that was before Nigel Crane's sister came into our lives. "I should have done a better job of protecting you." I continued my staring contest with the door as I spoke out loud to the empty room I was in, "I'm so sorry." Talking out loud to nothing made me look insane, but it was one of the ways I coped with her being gone. I closed my eyes and tried to remember how it felt to run my fingers down from Anna's shoulder to her wrist and hold her hand in mine or pull her in close to me and hold onto her tightly, but with each passing day, the memories kept becoming less real. The pain I was feeling every day was the only thing that reminded me she was real. If pain was what it took to be close to her or to keep her memory alive, then I'd just find a way to deal with it. It was the only thing left I had to hold on to.

"Nick, you want me to stick this in your locker for you? I'm heading down anyway."

I looked over at Warrick to see what it was, "Judging by the blue paper on the outside of that envelope you've got, that can only mean one thing. I guess I'm the proud owner of a brand new subpoena entitling me to a full day, no expenses paid trip to the Clark County court of my choice?" He smiled at my humor. "Yeah if you don't mind, take it down there for me. Oh, and take this down too." I handed a case folder to Warrick, "Go put both in my locker and I'll be down in just a minute and we can leave. I'm ready to get out of here myself." I watched as he left the office we were in and kept my eye on him through the windows as he made his way down the hallway to the locker rooms before he made the turn behind me which took him out of my line of sight.

The silence in the room was just what I needed for the time being, "I'm so exhausted." I rubbed my eyes using the back of my hands and tried to make myself appear more energetic than I was, but I knew it'd be a futile act. I stayed where I was in the office for a moment before I realized I had to get up because I had to go home. This was the part of my day I hated doing the most. I hated going home to that empty house that was filled with memories of Anna. Right now, that was the only home I had. I knew Catherine could get Sam to get me a room at the Tangiers again, but she'd want to know why and again, I couldn't give her a reason she'd believe that didn't involve Anna leaving me. I remembered the apartment guide I picked up the other day and made the decision to take a look through it once I got home and I'd start working on finding a place to live.

I felt tears coming on and quickly choked them off before I wound up crying at work. I felt that activity was best left for me to get back home. Draco provided the company I needed these days and even Anna's flighty cat was beginning to come around. She didn't run quite as fast as she first did when she first met me. "I guess that'll be the end of the shift. Another day, another dollar." I sighed, knowing I had to put on my big boy underoos and face the day at home alone.

I got up from the chair and shut the lights off in the lab before I went downstairs to the locker rooms to change and go home. I made the turn at the corner and opened the door to the locker room and saw Warrick sitting down on the bench, reading something. I didn't pay any attention and instead went to my locker, only to see my locker door opened, "Put the file in there okay?"

Warrick didn't look up right away, "Why didn't you tell me Anna left?" He held up the letter that Anna left me, "I'm your best friend and you didn't feel a need to mention this?"

"Because, I didn't want to. I'm handling this." I wished I would have hidden that letter in a better place than on the top shelf of the locker. No one knew that I carried the letter with me. It was the one of the bizarre ways that made me feel close to Anna. I took a step forward and got ready to pull the letter out of Warrick's hand, but he moved his hand back, just out of my reach, "Give it to me."

"Nick, talk to me."

"Give me the damn letter." I tried reaching for it again, but Warrick held it over his head

"What the hell happened? You were so happy. Anna was so happy. This doesn't make sense. I've never seen two people more suited for each other than you and Anna are. What went wrong?" I reached for the letter again and Warrick pulled it back, keeping it just out of my reach. "Nick, talk to me."

"You had no right to read this. Damn it, this is none of your concern." I yanked the letter out of his hand before I slammed the locker door shut and left, not even bothering say anything else in my own defense. I was halfway down the hall before I realized I left my bag in my locker which was the same bag that had my truck keys inside of it. Silently cursing myself even more, I retraced my steps back to the locker room and found Warrick sitting in the exact same spot as he was when I made my exit moments earlier, "So much for my dramatic exit, huh?"

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry. I came down here to put the folder and subpoena in your locker like you asked and when I opened the door, some papers you had on the shelf flew out and when I bent down to pick them up, I saw the note Anna left. I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I know you didn't know." I started to open my locker, but stopped, "I didn't want anyone to know. That's why I didn't say anything to anyone. That's why I've been so distracted. I didn't want to tell anyone. I wanted to keep this private, but now that you know, the whole lab will know and right now, sympathy over this is the last thing I need. I don't need to be walking down the hall and get the 'that's him' looks or the 'She left him, poor Nick. I wonder if he's had enough time to get over her so I can ask him out' looks. I already get that from dealing with what happened to me thanks to that spastic lunatic I let into our lives. I'm still dealing with that. I have to get the 'That's him. That's the one the stalker went after' or the 'He's the one that almost died' looks from everyone. I don't need the sympathy. I don't need the concern. What I need is my girlfriend at home when I get there, but just like every night for the past two weeks, she won't be there and I don't even know where she is. No one does. I spoke to Bryan and he swore on his life that the last time he spoke to her was last week and she said she was visiting a cousin of hers I think, but she was leaving the next day and he hasn't heard from her since. She's not staying in any place for too long because she doesn't want to be found right away. Anna's smart and she knows how to stay hidden if she doesn't want to be found. It's hard as hell on me not knowing where she is or at the very least that she's okay. I know you well enough to know that you figured something was going on and I knew that eventually, it'd all come out, but I just wasn't ready for it now. That's why I haven't said anything. I really didn't want anyone else up here to know what was going on with Anna."

"Look, I won't tell anyone if you don't want this to get out. You have my word on that." Warrick looked up at me from his seat on the bench, "You feel like talking? I'll even throw in breakfast to sweeten the deal."

"You buying?" He said he was as I opened my locker and stared at the contents inside, "Actually, yeah." I sat down on the bench next to him as I pulled my bag out of my locker. "I do, but not here. Come on." I stood up and started to leave the locker room with Warrick following me.

"Going somewhere, gentlemen?"

We both saw Catherine walking into the locker room we just came out of. Warrick stood next to me as he shoved me forward. "Yeah, we're, uh, going to go eat or something. Later." He shoved me in the back again silently telling me that I needed to pick up the pace before Catherine tried to invite herself to come along, "Figured you didn't want the company."

I didn't say anything until we got outside. I pulled my sunglasses out of the side zipper of my bag and dug my keys out of my pocket, "No, I didn't and thanks. Where to?"

"Come on over to my place." Warrick reached in his truck and got something and turned to face me. He was holding up a video game, "I got the new Wii NFL game that came out last week. I haven't even had time to try it out yet I'll even let you be the pathetic ass Cowboys and I promise I won't laugh when the Dallas quarterback misses a pass or when my team's mascot sacks his ass just to show you how much I care."

I laughed.,"You're on. I'll be there in just a bit. Gotta run by the store and get food for Danilla and do one other thing first."

"Danilla?" Warrick tossed the game back in his truck. "Who's that?"

"Danilla is Anna's cat. I put the last bit of kibble in her bowl last night before I left to come into work."

"How'd she come up with a name like Danilla?" Warrick tossed his bag in the back of his Tahoe before starting it and turning up the air conditioner, "I'll be glad when this heat is over with. Hate it."

"You and me both." I hit the button on the remote entry for my truck to unlock it. "She didn't name it herself. Bryan's kid named the cat. Anna said she found the cat when she was out riding one of her horses and brought her home. Bryan's son, Cody, saw the cat and went nuts when Anna told him he could name her. He wanted to name the cat Vanilla after his favorite ice cream flavor but couldn't say vanilla properly and it came out 'Danilla' and that's how the cat got her name, which in itself is strange because the cat is black and orange, but Anna said he was adamant about the cat's name being Danilla." I checked my watch, "Give me an hour or so. It won't take me that long to run by the store and pick up a bag of food and some other stuff I need. Be over at your house in a bit." I didn't give him time to ask me what my mystery errand was after I was finished at the store, nor did I want him to see where I was going.

I made it part of my drive home every morning to go by the fire station that Anna worked at before she got hurt. I knew the chances of seeing any sign of her there were slim to nothing, but I didn't care. It was something I did. It was another way I held on to her. I started to slow down as I passed the parking lot side of the station. "Same as always." I knew she wouldn't be there. "She wasn't there the last fourteen times I drove by on my way home, so why should day fifteen be any different?" I knew that I needed to come to terms with what happened, but I was holding on to the slightest inkling of hope that one day, she'd be back. I just couldn't picture my life without her. Not after all that we had been through.

I made a stop at the grocery store and picked up the food for the cat and a few things I needed and drove around for a bit longer before I made a turn into a gas station parking lot so I could turn around and get back on the road to go to Warrick's. I was only gone an hour after I left him at the lab, but I knew he was anxious about hearing my side of the story, even though he'd never admit it.

I turned into the parking lot of his apartment complex and parked next to his Tahoe and followed the path up to the sidewalk and up the stairs to his apartment. I didn't even bother to knock and instead, just let myself in, "Warrick?"

"Yeah." I heard him call to me from the living room. "Come on in. Just setting up the game. Pizza is in the kitchen."

I looked at him while he was sitting on the floor setting up the Wii. "Pizza for breakfast?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I promised I'd buy you breakfast. Didn't say what it'd be."

"Touché." I made a stop in the kitchen and grabbed a slice of our breakfast pizza before I made myself at home on the recliner in his living room. He took the sofa next to me and tossed me one of the wireless controllers. "Get ready to be annihilated, my friend."

We played half a game before I broke the silence. "What was that you were saying about me being annihilated? Looks like I'm winning, right?" I had to smile to myself at the score of 36-7 at the halftime marker of the game. "My 'pathetic ass Cowboys' in your words are mopping the floor with your Steelers. That last safety I got really helped me extend my lead over you." I hit the button on the remote to start the next quarter, "You're going down."

Warrick paused the game, "Not quite yet. Want anything to drink?"

"Yeah. Coke, tea. Whatever. I'm not picky." Warrick disappeared long enough to pour us two glasses of iced tea. I took a drink and winced, remembering how much sugar Warrick liked in his tea. "I don't think I'm gonna have any teeth left. Think you used enough sugar?"

"Still a bit sour to me." He took another drink before he set his glass down on the table as the game started up again. He pushed the buttons on the controller to start the opening kickoff as I maneuvered my player down the field to receive it. I took my eyes off my player long enough to glance over at Warrick and that was all it took. "Ha!" I looked up in time to see my receiver get hit hard and shoved back into the end zone. "Looks like I'm not dead yet, Nick." I didn't say anything back to him as another memory of Anna washed over me. I stared at the game controller in my hand a moment before I hit pause. Warrick wasn't paying attention to me when I did that. He looked over at me after pushing buttons on his controller, trying to finish the play he was trying to set up. "What'd you do that for? You're still winning."

I watched the frozen game screen on Warrick's TV, "Anna's been gone a little over two weeks."

Warrick tossed the Wii remote down on the table and took another drink of his tea. "What happened? I mean, if you want to talk."

I leaned back in the recliner and dropped the Wii remote I was holding in my lap and watched as Warrick turned the channel to something else to give us background noise. The walls in his apartment were thin and any time he had a conversation he didn't want anyone to hear, he always said he left the TV on as background noise to drown out the conversation. He flipped through channels until he stopped on the Weather Channel. "Anna got released from the hospital and I made the mistake of taking her back by my old apartment."

"Why'd you do a thing like that?"

I shrugged my shoulders and set the Wii remote on the table and stared at the map on the TV as the forecaster kept motioning to some rain bands stretching from Kentucky and down through Texas on the map. "Looks like my parents are getting soaked. Anyway, it wasn't like I wanted to. Guess I better back up so you can have the whole story. While Anna was in the hospital, Ecklie and the rest of the day shift were evidence collecting from my apartment, but you know that part already. Ecklie came to the hospital one day to tell me they were done and he gave me the green light to move my stuff out. Right before I did that, I checked with the manager about something and she said because of the damage caused to the unit, she was under the impression the owners of the complex were thinking on just kicking everyone out of that building to completely renovate it. At the time when I talked to her, the manager said it was just going to be me since it was just my apartment damaged. So, after the manager of the complex booted me out, she offered to put me in another unit, but I knew I could never live in that complex again and I knew without even asking Anna that she wouldn't want to live there, either."

"And it didn't make sense to get another apartment?"

"Not really. Anna owns her own home and it just made more sense for us to move in together. So, I hired that moving company Catherine told me about that Sam uses a lot and had them take all of my furniture out of my apartment and move it all into a storage unit. I had them get my clothes, or at least some of my clothes, and a few other items and box them up and had them taken to Anna's place out in Summerlin where we were going to stay after she got out of the hospital. We had talked about it some before she got hurt, but after what happened to her, I knew she wouldn't go back to that complex. By this time, the manager told me the owners shut down the whole building to renovate, so I asked her to refund my deposit and I'd be by to get it after Anna got out of the hospital. I had completely forgotten all about it until the morning Anna got discharged. The manager had called me earlier in the week and reminded me of my deposit check and asked that I pick up a box of stuff the movers forgot. So the day Anna got released, I had planned on leaving her at the lab with that spider of Grissom's while I went and did that, but she insisted I take her."

"What happened at the apartment? Something spook her?" Warrick took another drink from his tea glass, "Why'd she want to go back there, anyway? Isn't that a bit morbid?"

I said yes as my eyes continued watch the TV in Warrick's apartment, "I thought so myself and knew that I shouldn't do this, but Anna's a bit stubborn." I laughed, "No, she's more than a bit stubborn. She's really stubborn. Anyway, we checked out of the hospital and I told her I was going to drop her off at the lab to see Grissom's spider that he named after her while I ran some errands. When she asked me what they were, I couldn't lie to her. I never have lied to her about anything except for not telling her I saw Nigel's sister and that was more of a lie of omission, but I'll get to that in a minute. She begged me to take her and though my brain was screaming 'not just no, but hell no,' I took her anyway. I parked in front of the manager's office and told Anna to wait on me. When I went in to get my deposit check, I talked to the manager a few minutes and got that box of stuff the movers left and when I came out, Anna was gone. I cussed her and left my truck in front of the office and ran back to the back of the complex where my building was. I saw the door was open and she was standing in there, staring at the ceiling above her. The biohazard cleanup crew had already been in there and ripped up the carpet and treated the walls and floors where the blood was, but they weren't finished taking the bloody sheetrock off of the walls. Anna was standing about the same spot Nigel was in after she shot him." I had to stop talking for a minute. I was about to start crying, but I had to fight the tears off.

"Anna was the one that killed Nigel, right?"

I looked over at Warrick, "You didn't know?"

"Yeah, I did, but just wanted to be sure. Ecklie told us at the beginning that only he and Grissom were to have access to the case files that Greg and Catherine took concerning Anna's statement that she gave while she was in the hospital. Greg had told me Anna was the one that killed Nigel to save your life." Warrick exhaled sharply, "It wasn't in the case notes that we had access to at the time and only after Ecklie released his hold on the notes after IAD found nothing wrong and deemed it a justifiable act did we understand what really happened. For the longest time afterwards, Ecklie and Grissom kept that part of the investigation under wraps since IAD was investigating because of what happened given the fact that someone died at your apartment that night and seeing as how we have the jobs that we do." Warrick stopped to process what was making sense to him now after I filled in the holes in the story he was told. "Wow. I guess that explains a lot."

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, "That wasn't what messed her up I don't think. We stayed in the apartment for a few minutes until she started crying after seeing our bedroom. She broke down again just outside the courtyard and I carried her from there and back to my truck and took her home. Other than what she told Catherine and Greg, she didn't say much about what happened right before she killed Nigel and I didn't press her. I knew she'd tell me when she was ready. She spoke some of it, but any time I tried to press her further, she shut down. She's always been like that, so I knew she'd tell me in time. All I knew was what she told Catherine and Greg that day in the hospital. I knew she wasn't telling them the whole story, but I also knew that she wouldn't omit anything that was pertinent to the case. Everything was going okay until Nigel Crane's sister walked into our lives. I had to drop off a report to Brass at the PD and apparently she was in there the day I dropped it off and found us out together one day and confronted us."

"Renee, right? Wasn't that her name? What'd she do?" Warrick looked upset at the revelation I had just dropped, "Did she try anything?"

I shook my head, "No, nothing like that and yes, that's her name. She was in town cleaning out Nigel's apartment and finishing up some loose ends with his estate and just wanted to apologize to us for what he did to both of us. She was came by work while I was at the lab finishing up on a case and told me to tell Anna that she was sorry for what her brother did, but it was a few days later that she saw Anna and me out and wanted to apologize to Anna for what Nigel put her through. I wasn't paying attention and had stepped away from Anna to talk to the seating hostess at the restaurant at the Hotel Paris and by the time Renee said who she was to Anna as I was coming back towards them, it was too late. The damage was done." I tried to shove the painful memories of that night out of my mind again, "If that wasn't bad enough, she found Anna at Wal-Mart and tried to give Anna back some of our stuff that Nigel had stolen. Renee told Anna she found it in his storage locker. Anna threw it in a Goodwill bin at the store and apparently, that's when she decided to leave. She told me she was scared Renee would finish what Nigel started. I think seeing that Nigel had a sister as unhinged as he was gave Anna more than she could handle and pushed her over the edge. As far as she and I both knew, he had no family. It wasn't until the day that she came by the lab to speak to me that I found out he even had a sister back in Georgia. Brass pulled me aside to let me know that was who that was in his office a couple days later after I dropped off that interrogation report that day she was in there. I told Brass that Nigel's sister had already found me, but I didn't know she still wanted to talk to Anna or I would have done something to stop her."

Warrick picked up the glass of sugar water he called tea and took a drink, "When'd she find Anna?"

"The first time we were together. Anna and I were out and waiting on a table at that steakhouse inside the Paris when Nigel's sister confronted us. I didn't recognize who she was at first, but when I started to head towards them to get Anna away from Renee, I could tell something snapped inside Anna. I got paged to go in to work after we got home even though it was one of my days off. I called Gris and explained what happened and he told me to stay home with Anna. I went back to work that next Tuesday and she seemed better until that night she came by." I felt my throat start to constrict as the tears started to try to force their way out of my eyes, but I kept my tears and emotions in check as I tried to figure out what to say next. "Still kills me to talk about it. Hindsight's always a bitch. I knew I should have taken more days off work and stayed home with Anna, but I didn't. I just didn't understand at the time that she was as bad off as she was. She didn't ever let on to me that she was that bad. The nightmares had stopped and she seemed happier."

Warrick remained silent as he shifted his gaze from me to the Weather Channel. He said nothing, apparently trying to find the right words. Finally, the right words came to him, "And you haven't spoken to her since then? Nothing?"

"Nope." I shook my head and picked the Wii remote up off of the table. "This wouldn't be so hard if I didn't love her. Sometimes I wish there was a pill I could take to make the love go away. But no, I haven't heard from her. Not a word. No emails, texts or phone calls. She left her phone at home so I couldn't find her. Do you think she misses me as much as I miss her?"

"Yeah. I do." Warrick picked his Wii controller up and motioned for me to hit the start button to start the game again as he flipped the input over to the AV port so we could finish our game. I hit the pause button on the game and watched as Warrick's player took possession over the ball and started making his way down field. "Like I said earlier, I've never seen two people meant for each other more than the two of you. This sounds corny and the cliché is way overused, but she completes you as much as you complete her. I've known you a lot longer than I've known her and I remember how you were before you met her and I know how you are after you met her. I can't imagine why she'd leave you for good. I also can't imagine what's been going through her head. I haven't had to kill anyone in the line of duty, and I hope and pray to God I never have to, but as a paramedic, she's trained to save lives, not kill them."

I remembered Anna and Bryan's motto that he made up for them, "We save lives, dammit." I hit a button on my remote to block a pass Warrick's player tried to throw.

"What?"

"Long story." I hadn't thought about Anna and Bryan's motto in a while. "Anna and her partner at the station use that as their motto." I still clearly remembered the day she told me that. "Funny what your brain remembers and what you forget."

"You can tell me the whole story later on." He faded off as he threw a pass to a wide receiver during a play in the game, but my player beat him there and I smiled as I took control over the game. "Cheater." He paused the game to finish our conversation. "I was distracted. I can't play and talk at the same time."

"Excuses, excuses."

"She'll come back to you. I know that. Anna will be back."

"That's what everyone keeps telling me, and I'm trying to stay positive, but…" I trailed off as I tried to find a way to finish the statement I had just made. "Hope in one hand, crap in the other and see what fills up faster. I don't want to keep getting my hopes up, only to have them fall to the ground again. It's hard enough as it is staying in her house and thinking that with each passing car on the highway in front of her house that it's her coming home to me again. The hope that she'll come back to me I can keep. That and the memories I have are all I've got left to hang on to. I just can't keep going with the disappointment day in and day out. That's what's killing me emotionally. I just don't know how much more I can go on without knowing what's going on in her mind. I can't live without her and I don't want to lose her."

"You know you can stay here if you want, right?" Warrick motioned towards the back of his apartment. "I got that spare bedroom. You're welcome to it if you want to get away from her house for a bit. Is she worth it? Is the pain she causes worth it to you?"

"It is worth it because she is my one and only. When I picture myself years from now, I see only her. No matter how painful distance and not knowing where she is can be, not having her in my life would be worse." I was getting ready to start that as I mulled over Warrick's offer, "I think…I think that I'll take you up on the offer about staying here for a little bit." I gave it some more thought as I finished letting Warrick get a couple of easy touchdowns in on me during the game, "I'm fully housebroken by the way." He started to smile at me until I sacked his quarterback for a safety, "And that one, my friend, is the game." I watched as the game graphics played out as my team celebrated the extra two points to add towards the game. "You want a knife to cut up that crow you have to eat? Ketchup? Pepper or something to make it taste a bit better?"

Warrick made a sound that sounded like it was half laugh and half groan, "I think I need to retract my previous statement about you living here if you're going to be that way. You can get your punk ass on the street for all I care." He tossed his controller on the table as soon as the final seconds ran out on the game clock. "You won. I'll give you that, but that's the last time I'll go easy on you. Another game?" He looked at me, hopeful I'd take him up on his rematch request. I consented and he picked his controller back up off the table and started the game over, determined to make me pay for what I just said. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you want. No worries and I promise you, I'll keep your secret safe."

Warrick and I played another two games with him winning the first game and me winning the second game. We debated on a fourth game, but we left the standings at me in the lead two games to Warrick's one win but vowed that we'd finish up the best of five series tomorrow after work. He left me alone in the living room to go back to his bedroom to get some sleep before work. I stayed where I was and flipped through the channels on TV, not really finding anything that caught my attention. I turned the TV off and left the remote on the end table and stretched in the recliner before getting up and heading towards the back bedroom of Warrick's apartment. I put my cell phone and keys on the table next to the bed and was about to get ready to lie down until I realized I needed some clothes to sleep in. I got my keys and went back outside and got my work bag and some clothes out of the back of my Tahoe and came back in and took a quick shower before changing and getting ready to go to bed before I had to be back at work tonight.

"So ends another night." I stared out the blinds at the sunlight outside. I checked my watch and realized it was about two in the afternoon. "Or day. Or whatever." I pulled the covers down off of the bed, but instead of getting in bed, I stared out the window of the guest room and watched as the traffic went by on the street behind Warrick's building.

The window I was looking out of faced the east. I didn't have an exact location on where Anna was, but if I had to guess, I would have guessed her to be in Arkansas with her family or with Bryan's family who now lived in Oklahoma. Bryan swore to me when I talked to him a couple nights ago that he hadn't talked to her in about four days, but as soon as he did, he said he'd tell me and let me know how she was doing. I sighed as I watched the cars go by on the street, letting my thoughts just drift where they wanted to go. For some reason, the memory of how Anna and I met was the memory that kept replaying in my mind. That memory faded into the memory of the look she gave me in the back of the ambulance when I asked her if I was going to be okay. I smiled half heartedly as I put my hand on one of the glass panes making up the window and stared at the view I had of Las Vegas in the background. "Where you used to be, there is a void. I find myself constantly walking around in it just as lost as I was before you came in my life and I hope you know that I miss you like hell." I let my hand drop to my side as I shut the blinds and got in bed. "Good night, Anna. I love you."

**A/N: * No Texas Longhorns football fans were harmed in the making of this chapter ***


	16. Haunted Heart

**Chapter 16 – Haunted Heart**

"Finally." I stuffed the last remaining sheet of paper in the file and paper clipped it together and tossed it in the bin at the edge of the room for the police department courier. After writing out a narrative from the case that kept me busy all night long, I was finally done. I waited on the printer to get finished and after it did, I stuck those two sheets of paper on top of the folder in the bin and turned the lights out and left the lab. I stretched my back out as I waited on the door to shut behind me.

"Tough night. You heading home?"

"Not right now I'm not. I'm restless and don't really feel like sleep." I started walking with Warrick until we got to the hallway that led to the locker rooms, which was where I was headed. I stood in the right side of the hallway as Warrick stood in the left side of the hallway, preparing go to the front of the building to leave after he met up with Greg and Grissom. "I will in a little bit. I'm gonna go find somewhere quiet and hide for a while. Tough case from last night and I'm hungry and I need breakfast."

"What'd you get?"

"Sara and I got assigned a domestic case. Wife died at the scene. Husband really did a number on her. Medics tried to revive her, but she died at the scene from the severe beating she took. Poor lady."

"Those are always tough. I'll see you after court." Warrick said he'd be home as soon as he could if I wanted to talk. I watched as he left me in the hallway of the lab and met up with Grissom and Greg before they went out of my line of sight. He was heading to court for a case that they had all worked a couple months ago. After heading down to the locker room to grab my stuff, I went outside and got in my truck and was getting ready to leave when my phone rang. I glanced at the screen and I didn't recognize the number, so I decided against answering the phone. I was off duty and whoever it was could leave a message. I muted the ringer and threw it in the glove box of my Tahoe and left the parking lot before anyone else could stop me.

I was restless from the case that Sara and I worked last night. Abuse cases were always hard on all of us, but when the abuse turned violent and the case wound up with Sara and me investigating the woman's death which led to the arrest of the husband, it was harder than I thought it'd be. No matter what we did, the woman was still dead and the husband was still alive. The only closure we got in cases like these was the knowledge that we did all we could to speak for the decedent and with our help, there would be an arrest. In this case, her abuser husband was in jail.

Bryan and his new partner were the medics on the scene and I couldn't help but remember the first time I met Anna when I was in the back of the ambulance after watching them try to save the wife without having any luck. She died at the scene from her injuries in the fight she had with her husband earlier in the night. I stayed with the wife's body until the coroner came and took her back to the lab for an autopsy. After our shift was over, I couldn't get out of the lab fast enough. The night started off bad with the call and went downhill quickly after the lady died then having the memories of Anna mixed in with an already bad night.

Bryan did stop to check on me before they cleared the scene, remembering that the first time Anna and I met was at a domestic violence call. He did tell me Anna called him last night and said that she refused to tell him where she was and that she used a calling card at a pay phone to keep from being found. He went on to say that Anna sounded horrible on the phone and that she asked how I was doing. When Bryan tried to talk to her about coming back, Anna said she had to go and hung up the phone after she said she'd call again in a couple days. It still stung to know she calls Bryan but won't call or speak to me. Some nights, it hurt so badly that I wound up sick in the bathroom.

I drove down one of the main roads of Las Vegas, trying to figure out what sounded good for breakfast. Nothing really sounded good so I pulled in one of the casinos and parked my truck and went inside. I started to go left towards the restaurants when I changed my mind and went to the bar instead. I told the bartender to bring me a beer and she did a few moments later. Leaving there, I went to the gaming floor and stood back and watched as the players did their best to tilt the odds in their favor. I finished my drink and got another one and before long, I was on my fourth one. I was feeling a little bit lightheaded and went and sat back down at another bar in the casino. I knew that if the bartender thought if a patron was getting too much to drink, they had the right to cut them off. Given the dark area in my life, I decided to play it safe and went to another bar area in the casino for my next round of drinks. Instead of another beer, I ordered a Crown and Coke and in one swallow, I downed the whole drink. I left there and went to a third bar in the casino and got another Crown and Coke and sat down at a slot machine and hoped my luck here would be better than the luck I've been having.

After losing ten dollars, I finally hit. I only won about thirty dollars, but I cashed out and went to the cash out windows and gave them my bucket of quarters to change. I put the money in my pocket and went back to the bar for another drink. By this time, I was feeling little pain and with my steps being as unsteady as they were, I decided to sit down and take my time with this drink and people watch. It was almost half an hour before someone interrupted me.

"And there he is. The man that ruined my life."

I turned around to see who was behind me. "And look who it is." I took another drink of my beer. "My very own stalker. I have never had one before." I flagged the bartender down and asked her to bring me another drink. "Oh wait! Yes I have. He tried to kill me." I took a long drink from the bottle before I spoke again. "Look lady. I don't know why you feel a need to harass me all the time. You think I ruined your life? You ruined mine. Because of you, my girlfriend is gone. Happy now?"

"So is my brother. Guess it's an eye for an eye then."

I stood up too fast, knocking the chair off balance but I managed to catch it before it fell and drew attention to myself. "Your brother was a psychotic lunatic who murdered two women that we know of. If that wasn't bad enough, he shoved me out of a second story window and then later, he shot my girlfriend twice and she almost died." I started to walk away, but the anger inside of me was so pent up because of Anna leaving that it needed an out and Renee was my out. "I don't know why you're still here. I don't really care. I'm gonna say this once and once only so write it down, take a little note or stitch it on a pillow: leave me alone. I don't want to see you ever again. I don't want to speak to you ever again. If you know what's good for you, you'll get in your car and get back to Alabama or wherever in the hell you're from and leave me alone. You and your brother have done more than enough damage to me in one lifetime. If I see you again, I will have you arrested for stalking, harassment and attempted murder."

I turned to leave and Renee got in front of me. "Who did I attempt to murder? The only murderer I know is that girlfriend of yours."

I cut my eyes to her again. My mind was full of smartass remarks that I wanted to shoot at her, but I held back. I was in no condition to be seen by anyone at work and if I said the wrong thing, she'd probably wind up attacking me and in my current state of intoxication, I didn't need anyone from work interfering and wondering why I was as drunk as I was. "I'm not going to even justify that with a response. I'm leaving. Do not follow me. Do not speak to me. Do not cross me. If you know what's good for you, you will go back to wherever the hell you're from. I thought you'd be gone by now."

"I am not done with my dead brother's estate."

"Whatever." I started to walk out of the casino and got almost to the steps that led up to the exit of the casino when Warrick stopped me. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm not done with you." Renee took a step forward and attempted to hit me, but Warrick stopped her. "Don't get in the middle of this."

"I'm saving your ass from beating hers." Completely ignoring Renee, he put his hand on my shoulder and shoved me towards the main entrance of the casino. "Alright, let's go." He pulled me towards the entrance by my forearm. "Nick, come on. She's not worth it. Trust me."

"Where are you taking him?" Warrick let me go and turned to face Renee when she grabbed the back of his shirt. "He and I…We're not done yet. I want to speak to my brother's murderer."

"Lady, I…"

Warrick interrupted me when he shoved me about two feet in front of him and started towards Renee. I tried to follow and Warrick stopped me and shoved me backwards again. "I think the crown is weighing heavily on the queen's head. Let me deal with her. You stay out of it." She tried to go around him to get to me, but Warrick stopped her when he signaled to two security officers standing guard near the door to take Renee. "Call LVPD on her, now. She's threatening my friend over there and is still stalking him and I just witnessed an act of battery against him. There are reports already on file about her and she's at it again. I'm sure the video evidence here will back our statements up. If they ask who initiated the arrest, have them call me. Warrick Brown, Las Vegas Crime Lab."

The security officers took Renee who was struggling to break free from them towards the back of casino where their offices were as Warrick came over to where I was. "Come on, Sugar Ray. Let's go."

I shook free of his grip and started walking the opposite way back towards the bar. "How the hell did you find me? I'm not ready to go. I'm still thirsty."

Warrick caught me by the elbow and pulled me towards the door. I stumbled at the edge of the steps leading from the casino gaming floor up to the exit. Warrick didn't back down. He led me outside. "I knew where you were because the bartender called me. She and I went out a few times. She told me you needed help and wanted me to come get you rather than call the cops or security. She did you a favor by calling me."

"Great. I have a babysitter now. She had no right. Damn it, I'm a free man and I can do what I want." I started to walk away from Warrick and his confrontation but he stopped me. "Now what do you want? I told you. I'm leaving."

"She had no right, huh? She had no right to keep your stupid, drunk ass out of jail? She had no right to call a friend to come get you before you did something stupid?" Warrick stopped and pulled me to one side of the valet lot to where a limousine that had tinted windows was parked. "Take a good look in the mirror. Look at yourself, Nick. Look. Tell me what you see."

"That's a window, not a mirror." I stared at my reflection in the window of the limo. I looked like hell and I felt like hell but I wasn't about to tell Warrick I agreed with him.  **"** So you want me to tell you something about myself? Something I'm not seeing? I see myself. I'm fine and I don't have anything to say. Even if I did, you wouldn't ever believe me when I would tell you that I'm fine, so what's the point? Now I'm going home."

"No you're not." Warrick shoved me towards the parking lot. "I'm taking you home. You're not driving yourself anywhere."

"Just like I told that woman a minute ago, whatever. I'm out of here." I got away from Warrick and started towards the south end of the parking lot before I realized I was going the wrong way. My truck was on the north end of the parking lot. I changed course in the middle of the lot and tripped over a curb. Catching myself on a lamp post, I started again towards my truck. Warrick appeared in front of me, blocking the last steps towards my truck. "Move."

"What woman?"

"You missed that part before you came riding up on your white horse, attempting to save me. I don't need to be saved. I'm fine. I'm talking about that woman in there. The same woman who made Anna leave and speaking of leaving, I'm going home. Now move."

"Nick, no. You're not driving home."

"The hell I'm not." I moved around him. "I will drive home. You're not my mother." I looked around the parking lot, trying to remember which row my truck was in. "I will as soon as I find my truck."

"Nick, stop! I may not be able to save you from yourself, but I can damn well save you from doing something stupid that you're not thinking about." Warrick shoved me back. "You're in no shape to drive. Give me your keys." He put his hand on my shoulder and held me back to where I couldn't walk.

"Let me go." I broke free of Warrick's grip and tripped over a parking lot speed bump. I caught myself on a mini van parked nearby. "I'll see you at home."

Before I could react in my inebriated state, Warrick pulled my hand back, spinning me around. Again, I caught myself on the mini van as he pulled my truck keys out of my hand. "You're not driving. Nick, look at yourself. You can barely stand up."

"I'm fine." I tried reaching for my keys, but I couldn't. Warrick held them up over his head as he held his left hand out against my chest, stopping me from moving forward. "Give me my damn keys so I can get the hell out of here."

"You want to ruin your life, fine. I don't care but if you're going to do it, you can do it without taking out someone else with you. What would you do if you hit someone? Huh? How many DUI wrecks have we worked? Take a guess." I shrugged my shoulders and kept my eyes on Warrick. He didn't back down. "Over a hundred? Sound fair?"

"Yeah. Whatever. What's your point?"

"My point? My point is that it's one thing to screw up your own life. That's your God given right. If you want to screw up your life, fine. I can't stop you, but listen to me, man. Think about what you're doing. How many times have we been to a DUI wreck at work and we had to go to the hospital to collect evidence? Think, Nick. How many times have we watched the family members of some innocent person who was at the wrong place at the wrong time break down because their family member died? How many?"

"A lot." Warrick was making a point, but I wasn't going to let him know that. "So what?"

"So help me…" Warrick shook his head. "Nick, I won't let you do this to yourself. Man, I know you're pissed over Anna being gone, but I refuse to let you ruin your life over this. What would she think if she saw you like this?"

I felt the anger begin to boil over. "Why the hell should I care anymore? Huh? Why should I care what the hell she thinks or what you think? She's gone. Anna is gone. The best thing to ever walk into my life is gone. Anna left me. She doesn't give a damn about me anymore, so why should I give a damn about her? Now give me my damn keys." I was faster than Warrick was and before he could react, I grabbed my keys out of his hand and started towards my truck once more.

"You have thirty seconds, Nick. Give me the damn keys to your Tahoe or I'll tackle you and you will wind up in the hospital."

Even though I remembered that Warrick played ball in high school and in college, I decided to call his bluff. I turned to walk off, counting down the seconds in my head. Finally, after I counted to twenty six, I tossed the keys over my shoulder without even looking back. I never heard them hit the concrete, so I assumed Warrick caught them. "That's better. Now wait your punk ass here and don't move or I'll handcuff you to a light post. I have to call someone to pick up your truck and bring it back to my apartment. I'll drive you home myself. I'd rather do that and have you hate me rather than me having to come bail your ass out of jail or worse, having to call your parents to tell them their son is dead because he was stupid."

"Don't call anyone from work." I stared at the ground, embarrassed about how I was acting. "Please. I know I don't have a right to make demands but please, don't call anyone from work. Can you call someone who doesn't know me? I don't need this getting around at work. I already feel bad enough as it is for acting like I have been lately."

"Fine. Don't move and if you have to hurl, do it over there somewhere. You hurl in my truck and I'll take you to jail myself for public intox." Warrick pulled his phone out of his pocket and pushed a few buttons before bringing it to his ear. I felt the ground begin to spin, so I sat down on the curb as I waited on whoever Warrick was calling to come and pick up my truck.

About twenty minutes later, a car pulled up to the parking lot where we were. A lady dressed in surgical scrubs got out and came to us while the driver of the car she was in left. Warrick tossed my keys to her and told her to follow us home. "I'll take mine. You take his, and thanks for doing this. I appreciate it."

The lady smiled, "You so owe me for this. I was on my way in to work."

I could tell from my viewpoint on the ground that Warrick was definitely not going to complain when it came to paying her back for the favor.

I was barely conscious on the ride home. It was only after we got to the parking lot and Warrick opened the passenger side door of his truck and I almost fell out that I started to become aware of what was going on. I left Warrick and the mystery lady outside as she gave him the keys to my Tahoe. He said he was going to take her to work and he'd be back in a little bit. After thanking the mystery lady, I left them where they were in the parking lot as I went inside to find some sort of pain reliever for the hangover headache I was about to get. Before I started up the stairs to Warrick's apartment, I glanced over my shoulder and saw he was helping her in the passenger's side of his Tahoe.

After I got inside, I found a bottle of Tylenol in the kitchen and swallowed a couple pills and drank two full glasses of water, trying to head off a hangover before it started. I made a stop in the bathroom to get a rag to use for a cold compress for my face before lying down in bed.

A couple hours later, I was still lying in bed with a cold rag across my face when I heard someone knocking on my door. "Yeah?" The door opened and I heard someone come in as I pulled the rag off my face to see who it was. The lights from the hall outside blinded me and I groaned. "Blinding light. Blinding light." I put my hands across my eyes. "Kill me now."

I heard a sound as Warrick set something down on the table beside my bed. "Little morphine for the pain. Drink up. Sorry, but I'm all out of hemlock."

I reached over to the table as I kept my eyes shut, trying to keep the blinding light out. "Could you turn the lights off or close the door or something?" I found the glass with my hand and took a drink. "Crap, you're giving me more alcohol again? What is it?"

"Hair of the dog. It's a weaker version of what you were drinking earlier. Drink that, then afterwards, chug water or you'll wind up sick as hell later on when we get to the lab later on for work and don't worry about the Renee arrest. I'll handle that and keep you out of it. I guess the good thing to come out of all of this is at least when we get the tapes to show she was stalking you, you weren't stumbling drunk or falling over yourself or something."

"Thanks, man." I finished the rest of the drink Warrick fixed and put the empty glass on the table. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be such a…"

"Lobotomized jackass?"

I laughed, "I wouldn't have exactly said that about myself, but since you offered, yeah, a huge pain in the ass. Thank you. I don't mean just for putting up with me, but for everything. It just seems that the story of my life here lately has been nothing but self destruction. I am so self destructive lately that I turn solutions into problems. Everything I touch, I ruin. I'm Midas in reverse. Sometimes, I wish I could walk around with a 'Handle with Care' sign stuck to my forehead. I know that people say that things fall apart so that other things can fall together and I guess that's true in some cases, but I've been doing an awful lot of falling apart and there hasn't been anything that has been coming together. I feel like I'm down to the last thread on the rope, and I'm just dangling on." I sat up in bed and threw the rag in the laundry basket in my closet. "But back to the thank you part. Thanks for listening to me bitch, for keeping my secret and for not letting me ruin my life more than it already is."

"You're welcome and don't worry about it. You've helped me and covered for me more times than I can count before I got this gambling addiction under control. If anything, I still owe you a lot."

"Well if that's the case…" I trailed off, waiting to see Warrick's reaction.

"You're pushing it, Nick." He threw a towel I had draped over my closet door at me. "Need anything else?"

After a moment, I shook my head. "Nothing you can bring me, unless you know where Anna is."

"Nick, I wish I did. I'd get her myself if I could. Somehow, if I had to guess, I'd say she's not much better off than you are." Warrick sat down in the chair in my room. "I see how you are. You're trying to put on a brave front and bury the feelings so deep down that you're thinking no one can tell that something's going on. To the outside world, you try and act like nothing is wrong or will ever be and that everything in your life is perfect. I knew you were lying three weeks ago when all of this started, but I let you have your distance. I knew you'd tell me eventually, or I'd just beat it out of you."

"Thanks for not pushing me and for not telling everyone at work. I know I've been a mess and I'm sorry."

"Like I said before, it's not a problem. You've bailed my ass out more than once in the past and now I can repay you. You're hurting. I know I can't do much to help you other than be your friend."

"That helps more than you know. People say that bad memories cause the most pain, but it's the good ones that actually drive you insane. I'm teetering on the edge of insanity and I have been since she left."

"Even in your drunken state, you can still make some sense. My grandmother always told me that having a good friend is having a connection to life. It's a tie to the past, a road to the future and the keys to sanity in a totally insane world." Warrick stood up from the chair. "Go to sleep. I'll make sure you're up in time to stop by the store to get some eye drops before work. You're gonna need them and don't forget to drink lots of water. You'll pee like a race horse, but it'll help."

After I thanked him again, he left me alone in the room to sleep. I tried to sleep, but Anna was in my thoughts and because of her, I couldn't sleep. I listened to the TV up front in the living room. I listened to the water running in the bathroom when Warrick got in the shower. I listened to the silence in the house after he fell asleep in his room. I got up and turned the floor fan on in the corner of the room to have something to break the silence but it didn't help.

After another half an hour of a mental film of Anna memories playing through my head, I listened as I heard the early sounds of a thunderstorm beginning. After another low rumble of thunder, I heard the rain starting to softly hit the glass in the window. A moment later, another low rumble of thunder broke the rain's steady and relaxing rhythm. I got up to look out the window and saw that the once blue sky had turned a dark gray color. Beyond the glass of the window, the falling rain had turned the world outside into a blur. As I kept watch on the rain streaming down the outside of the window, a jagged bolt of lightning came down from a cloud to the east of Warrick's apartment. I stayed where I was, closing my eyes and listening to the sound of the rain hitting the shingles on the roof as I saw the flash of light from another bolt of lightning hitting closer this time, followed by a louder sound of thunder.

Even as the rain fell and the thunder sounded in the background, no matter what I heard or what I didn't hear, I couldn't get Anna out of my thoughts. I had yet to find any sound that would drown out the thoughts in my head. No matter how painful it was to me, I knew that I never wanted her out of my thoughts, either. I left the window and went to lie back in bed and once I got situated, I reached over and got my iPod from the drawer in the nightstand. I hit the play button after turning the settings to shuffle. The first couple songs were older songs that I liked but when the third one came on, it caught me by surprise.

As I listened to the lyrics of the first verse, I thought to myself that I never have bothered to stop and listen to the song at all until now. I had heard it on the radio plenty of times and Anna had it on her iPod playlist, but I never stopped and listened to the words until now. As the second verse started, I sat up in bed as the male singer started in on his portion of the song,  _'Another shot of whiskey, can't stop looking at the door. Wishing you'd come sweeping in the way you did before and I wonder if I ever cross your mind. For me it happens all the time…'_

"Anna, I wonder if you think about me as much as I think about you." I let the rest of the song play on softly in the earphones as I went to stretch my back in bed. It wasn't until the ending of the chorus that I realized how badly I did miss her. Remembering the last portion of the chorus, I kept my voice low so Warrick wouldn't hear me chiming in with the singer, "Said I wouldn't call but I lost all control and I need you now and I don't know how I can do without. I just need you now." The song finished and the next one came on, but my mind was too busy wandering as I thought of the one person on my mind who was always in my thoughts, even if she wasn't in my arms.

**A/N: A little shorter than the last chapter and slightly more depressing but I felt it necessary. I found great inspiration in listening to the Renee Fleming CD that shares this chapter's title while I wrote this. More chapters are in the works. Reviews please?**

**And yes, I know the Lady A song at the end of this chapter wasn't released back then, but remember this is fiction and the song fits this chapter considering the events during the first part of the story.**


	17. Lament

**Chapter 17 - Lament**

"Thanks for shopping with us and have a good night."

"You too." The cashier handed me the box of eye drops and the bottle of water I had just purchased along with my change. I stuffed the change down in my pocket as I left the drug store and got back in my Tahoe. My headache was still not quite cured from the hangover I had from the day before, but I knew I had to go to work. Last night was hard on me because I had a really bad headache, but I got partnered with Warrick and he picked up most of the slack from the case we worked. Tonight, I felt somewhat better. My head was still slightly achy but my eyes weren't as red as they were last night, but since I left the bottle of eye drops that I bought last night at home, I stopped by the same drug store before work and got another bottle. I took another couple of aspirin and swallowed those with a drink of water from the bottle I just bought. I broke the seal on the box and the bottle and used the eye drops in my eyes. I blinked a few times and looked in the rear view mirror. "Not bad."

I left the drug store and headed to the lab to start work. Warrick and Catherine were in the parking lot talking when I got there. We walked in together and right before we sat down, Warrick told me that I looked better than I did last night. At least yesterday when Grissom handed out assignments, he was distracted by something else and didn't pay me a whole lot of attention.

"Nick, you and Greg get this one." Grissom slid a piece of paper across the table to me. "Possible double homicide outside the Lucky Horseshoe Casino."

I waited until Grissom was done handing out assignments before I said anything. As I stuffed the assignment slip in my pocket, Greg and I stood up. "Possible? Either you're dead or you're not."

As we were leaving the room, Grissom pulled his reading glasses off after handing a folder to Sara, "One DB for sure. Second victim is touch and go according to the last report from the PD. The Lucky Horseshoe Casino apparently isn't so lucky tonight."

Greg followed me into the hall before he went the opposite way I was going. "Hey man, the exit is this way. I usually look for the signs and go where they point."

He shoved me towards the exit, "Ha ha. I'll meet you outside. I need to get my kit from my locker."

"Just making sure you're not lost." I parted ways with him and went up front to wait on him outside.

It was a clear night and there was a slight breeze which made the night time Nevada heat slightly more bearable. I leaned against my Tahoe and looked up at the dark sky, trying to find the stars. Because of the lights all around me, the stars were hidden. Until I got out closer to Anna's, I never could see the stars.

Greg came out a moment later and we left the lab and went to the crime scene we were assigned to. He got out and asked one of the uniforms what was going on as I pulled my field kit out of the back of my truck. "Nick, uniform says Brass is around here somewhere, but the victims are in the back behind the casino."

"Let's go." My voice was a little more forceful than I wanted it to sound. I knew as soon as that came out, Greg was going to question me. "You first." I moved to one side to let Greg go first.

"You okay? You seem kind of off."

Trying as best as I could to keep Greg out of my personal life, I told him I was tired. He seemed to buy it and didn't press me further. I hoped it was because I was convincing enough to pass off the lie, but I also knew that part of it was because Greg was still new. He'd only been a CSI for a little under a year and I could tell that he still had that eagerness about him when it came to crime scenes.

I let Greg go on ahead of me to find out what was going on as I stayed back near my truck. After stalling as long as I could, I got my field kit and started to walk as slowly as I could without gathering suspicion. When I finally spotted Greg, he and another police officer were standing off to one side of the crime scene. As the officer was telling Greg what was going on, I let my mind wander as I looked around the area. The part of town we were in was still considered part of the Vegas strip, but it was the older part. The casinos down here were older buildings and they weren't as popular as the ones closer towards the north end. Most of the buildings down here were the original structures from the time when Vegas was first getting started. The buildings were smaller and the amenities inside the casinos weren't as nice and as a result, the owners tried every trick in the book to get people to come down here.

We got about ten feet away from my Tahoe when Brass came out from the alley. He still had his back to us and didn't see us approaching him. "Whatcha got for Nick and me, Captain?" Greg held up the yellow crime scene tape so I could get under it. He followed me in after he let go of the tape barricade. "Double tonight or what? Grissom said possible double as one of the victims was still alive."

"There you are." Brass flipped the cover over on his notebook and put it in his jacket pocket. "Not quite. There were two victims, but just one homicide. The other one is still alive, but barely. Medics were able to stablize her. The two victims were found in the alley behind the casino. Workers came out for a smoke break and saw the first victim. She has no ID. It wasn't until they called us and the medics got here that they found the second victim. She's still alive, but she got shot. Someone really gave the dead girl a beating. Medics just cleared the scene and took the other victim to the hospital, so one of you will have to go there to interview her after surgery. I've asked to be called when she wakes up. One of the medics said they couldn't wait on you to get here, so they did a scoop and run. She was bleeding pretty heavily from a gunshot wound. Both of the victims were around back."

After moving by another officer as he was stringing up more crime scene tape, we got to the back of the alley. Against one wall of the casino were the tan dumpsters that were a common place with the casinos. As I looked at the crime scene, I saw two feet sticking out from between two of the dumpsters. As I got closer to check, I saw that the woman's body was as bruised as Brass said she was. Her shirt was torn and she was missing the mate to the hoop earring that was in her right ear. "I see the one victim, where was the second at?"

"Over here." Brass motioned for one of us to follow him. "She was lying right over here. I had the uniform do a body outline in chalk after he snapped some photos using his cell phone, just so you'd know about where she was lying. She was pretty bad off."

"Thanks. That'll help. Just tell the officer to email them to me." I pulled my camera from my shoulders and started to take pictures of where the live victim was until a pool of blood caught my eyes. "Greg, help me start processing until the other lady is out of surgery. I'll stay here with the one that didn't make it if she's still here when Brass gets the call. Help me do a perimeter check before we get started on anything else."

"I'll start on the east end. You want to take the west since you already got something?"

I nodded as I went back to the blood pool I found. Greg put his camera over his shoulder and got his flashlight out and started doing a sweep of the alley, moving in the opposite direction from where I was to start looking for clues.

We had been searching for about two hours when Brass's phone rang. "Nick, that was Desert Palms. She's out of surgery. Bullet shattered her femur but they say she'll be fine."

I took my eyes off another pool of blood on the concrete next to a power pole at one end of the alley as I tried to find Greg. He was bent down and was using tweezers to pull something off a chain link fence. "Greg, vic's awake. Go take her statement and call me when you're done. I may still need help here."

"Yeah. I'll call you if I have any problems." One of the uniforms standing nearby volunteered to drive Greg to Desert Palms. They left me alone in the alley with Brass and two other uniforms. I watched them lift up the yellow crime scene tape again before I turned my attention back to the dead lady in the alley.

"We didn't see a purse or anything nearby when we called you. The hotel workers that found her say they don't know who she is."

"They didn't recognize her from here? She not work here I take it?" I stood in front of the girl's feet and took some photos of her where she was. "She's dressed like an employee of somewhere nearby. Hostess? Concierge maybe? Cashier?"

"No. Hotel workers that found the bodies say the concierge employees here wear dark red shirts underneath black jackets. This girl has on a white shirt and no one here wears white shirts."

"Ah." I reached in my kit and pulled out a pair of latex gloves. "Did you get a chance to help me on that arrest I asked you about?"

"Yeah, I did. Are you sure you want to do that?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah. It makes me feel better if you'd take care of that for me."

"You're welcome. It was handled earlier today. I'll get the final paperwork ready for it later on tonight after we finish the scene."

While I waited on the coroner to get here and clear the scene, I started to give the victim a closer once over. She was probably no older than thirty and was wearing a fitted blazer over a white button down shirt that was torn near the bottom. Her pants were torn on one side, just showing the edge of her stockings underneath. She had lost one shoe and her left earring somewhere nearby. The heel of the shoe she still had on looked like it was brand new and the soles were hardly scuffed. Her right hand was draped across her stomach and her left hand was underneath her back with her head angled to make it look like she was staring straight up at the night sky. From what I could tell, it looked like someone shot her standing up and she either fell or she was pushed after she was shot. "Maybe she used her left hand to brace herself against a wall, using one of the dumpsters as support and when she died, she fell." I started going over scenarios in my head, talking out loud to myself as I processed as much of the scene as I could while I waited on the coroner to arrive. I turned my flashlight on again and started to go over the wall behind the dumpster, looking for any bullets or blood spatter. I started to shine the light about waist high and saw some blood spatter on the edge of one of the dumpsters. I put the flashlight under my arm and got a crime scene marker out of my kit and stuck it on the edge of the dumpster and got a scale ruler out to mark off the area. After taking several photographs of what I found, I put the camera strap back on my shoulder and got out my field report and started to make a rough sketch of the area where I was.

I was lost in my work when David arrived. "Got one for me?"

I glanced over my shoulder at him, "Yeah. Poor girl. She can't be more than thirty."

"They just keep getting younger and younger. Used to, the only bodies we got that were this young were from car wrecks. Now it's everywhere." He put on a pair of gloves and bent down to where he could examine her body. "Help me roll her." I bent down and helped David pick her up. The back of her blazer and the white shirt were both covered in blood. "Looks like a through and through." David stood back up and got his liver temp monitor. "Been dead about five hours, max." He went back to the coroner's van and got out the stretcher and a body bag. "Hate to have to bother you again for the help. We're short handed." He unzipped the body bag and laid it out on the stretcher. "Doc's still doing a post from swing and we've got two more lined up. Busy night."

I grabbed the victim by the ankles and together, we got her on the stretcher. I watched as he gently tied a piece of string around her hands to keep them together during transport. When David was reaching to zip the body bag, I stopped him when I noticed that on her left hand, she had on a wedding ring. "We have to ID this girl." I shook my head, "Poor girl is married. We need to find out who she is so we can tell the husband."

David looked in the pockets of the jacket and pants the lady had on. "No ID. No nothing. We'll get her back and scan her prints and I'll let you know if we find anything." He folded her arms across her chest and zipped the bag.

I turned my attention back to the crime scene after David was gone. After checking under the dumpsters and in the area near where both the deceased girl was and where the victim at the hospital was, I didn't see a weapon. "May have taken it with him." I started to shine the light on the ground as I looked for bullet casings. "Not a one." After documenting that on my report, I had to grimace at the thought of what I had to do next. My next move would be to look in the dumpsters. "This is when I need Greg here." I flipped the lid up on two of them and saw they were empty. I shined my flashlight down into them and didn't see anything. I shut those two lids and went to the next two dumpsters and opened the lids. "Great." The first dumpster to my left was empty, but the dumpster to my right was full. "Guess I'm going in since Greg isn't here." I put my flashlight down and reached in my kit for a pair of thicker gloves that I carried for occasions just like this. I had put one glove on and was getting ready to put the second one on when my phone rang. I reached in my pocket and pulled it out, using my left shoulder to hold it to my ear while I fought with getting my other glove on. "Stokes."

"Nick, can you come up to the hospital?"

I got the second glove on and relaxed my shoulder and grabbed the phone and held it to my other ear. "Why? Need help?"

"No, not exactly. The victim up here is why I'm calling. She just got out of surgery and when she saw me, she requested to see you. She says she knows you. I've tried to get her name from her, but she won't give it to me. She says she'll only talk to you. Hospital has her as Jane Doe."

"Greg, I was just about to go dumpster diving and for once in your life, your timing is perfect." I was able to take off the gloves a lot easier than they were to put on. "Be there in a minute. What room number are you in?"

"We're not in a room yet. We're still in post-op. Just come up to the second floor and ask one of the nurses for me. I'll tell them you're coming."

I snapped the phone shut and shoved it in my pocket as I approached a uniform officer standing nearby. "Don't let anyone back here unless they're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I'm gonna call someone else as I'm leaving. I just got a call to go to the hospital."

"Sure." He held up the tape that was at the edge of the alley.

I left there and got in my truck and drove the short distance to the hospital. I called Grissom and told him what was going on with Greg. He told me he'd send Sara over to finish up until Greg could get back. After hanging up with him, I got to the hospital and quickly found a parking spot in the ED lot and went inside. After waiting on the elevator to make its way down to me, I got in and hit the button for the second floor. My breath caught when I realized the last time I was in this elevator was the night Anna got shot. Sara and Grissom were standing behind me as I was in a daze from what had happened.

The elevator dinged when the doors opened, snapping me out of my trance. I shook my head and glanced over at my shoulder as the door shut, remembering how Sara and Grissom had to basically lead me around like a child. I was in a trance and was so worried about Anna that I couldn't function. "Times have changed."

I saw the nurses' desk ahead of me. "Excuse me?"

"Yes sir?"

The blonde nurse looked at me and smiled, trying her best to pique my interest. "I'm with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. I'm here to see Greg Sanders. He's in a room with a victim from a shooting earlier behind a casino on the strip."

She got out of her chair and came out from behind the desk. "You're in the right area, dear. Come on." She smiled at me and was doing her best to flirt. "They're back this way." She and I came to a stop at a set of double doors leading to the recovery area. She pulled her badge off of her lanyard long enough to wave it in front of the reader. It beeped and the doors opened. "Your friend is in there with the lady. My name's Tara if you need anything." She gave me another smile, clearly letting me know she was interested in me. "Just let me know, Mr. Uh...?"

"Brown. Warrick Brown." Warrick would probably beat me for giving this girl his name, but the last thing I needed was some lady calling me at the lab every night. "Thanks, Tara."

"No problem, Warrick." She left me in the doorway as she went back to the station, casting me one more glance and following that up with a smile before the automatic doors shut, blocking my view.

As soon as the doors closed, I exhaled the breath I was holding, thankful to be away from her. She seemed like a sweet gal and maybe in another life I would have flirted back, but right now I was holding on to and waiting for Anna. I wasn't ready to move on and knew I wouldn't be for a long time.

I stopped at the nurses' station in post op and this time, got a bored looking male nurse who told me where Greg was. Greg saw me coming and met me outside the room. "Your presence is requested inside. She swears she knows you."

He opened the door and I stepped in the room and my blood felt like it was replaced with ice water. "Damn it all to hell."

"What?" Greg looked over his shoulder at the woman in the room as I took a step back. "What is it?"

Feeling the anger building inside me, I shoved the door open with one hand. The tension arm on the door wouldn't let it go back that back far, but it did open with enough force that Renee jumped in her bed. I still couldn't believe who I was looking at. "Do you get off on this? Is that what this is about?"

Greg didn't give Renee a chance to answer. "You know this woman?"

"Yeah. I do. Wish like hell I didn't." With my hand on the door, I pulled it open and got ready to leave. "Greg Sanders, meet Nigel Crane's sister, Renee Willis. You process her. I'm out of here."

"Nick, wait. Please."

I glanced at Renee over my shoulder, "What? Want to shoot me? Shank me in the back? Shove an IV pole into my chest? Push me out that window over there like your brother did?"

"No." Renee moved the IV tubing draped across her shoulder out of the way to reach for the remote to her hospital bed. She pushed the button and the part under her back rose slowly, propping her up to where she could see me better. "I got shot. I'm the victim of a crime."

I scoffed, "Yeah, so did my girlfriend and she and I are both victims of crimes thanks to your brother. What's this got to do with the price of tea in China?"

"I didn't expect you to be welcoming when you saw me. I only asked for you because you're the only one I know here and, well, I know how law enforcement works. You hate me, then you tell your friends you hate me and they hate me by proxy."

"Wait, wait…" I put my field kit in the chair next to where Greg was standing and I folded my arms across my chest. "Are you actually implying that I had something to do with this? Are you saying that I hate your guts so much that I'd have you shot?"

"No, no." Renee shook her head and pushed the button on the bed again to bring the part under her back higher. She finally stopped when the back of the bed was almost sitting straight up. "I know you'd treat me fairly. I know you hate me and I'm okay with that. You have every right to hate me for what I did to you and to your girlfriend and for not stopping Nigel when he flew out of his mind and jumped straight into the fire. I understand that and I have accepted it. I was going back home tonight. My arrest from the other day got overturned I guess is the word. I was told earlier that the charges were about to be dropped and I booked a flight to go home. My flight was scheduled to take off in about five hours from now. I was on my way to the airport when I got shot." Renee gestured at her leg, "Guess I'll be missing that. I've got to stay here at least a day. My femur was shattered and they had to put a rod and some nails in to hold it together. According to your friend over there, they got the bullet out."

I wasn't buying this new version of Renee. "So, your brilliant idea is to go get yourself beat up and oh, why not throw in getting shot to drive your point home. Then, request me to process you, knowing I have to stay through the entire processing while you torment and torture me again like you did earlier? You really are as deranged as your brother was."

Renee shook her head, "No. I don't. I was checking out of the hotel I was staying at when I heard someone scream from behind the building. It was stupid of me to go back there and as a result, I got shot. I was just trying to help. I was trying to do the right thing for the first time since I got to Las Vegas and it didn't work. I guess I kind of deserve it for everything I've put you through. I actually deserved a lot worse, but for some reason, this was all I got. I deserved die for what my brother and I did to you and your girlfriend."

Greg had been quiet the entire time I was in here with Renee. I had all but forgotten he was in the room until I heard him move behind me. "Greg, you can go. I called Grissom on my way over here. Can you meet Sara back at the hotel and finish the scene? I'll handle this." I set my field kit on the counter in the room and stayed near the door.

"Are you sure?" Realizing who she was, I could tell Greg was a bit hesitant to leave me. "I mean, I can stay. I can call Grissom and I'm sure he'd say I could stay."

"I'm okay. I promise. Go."

Still looking torn about leaving me alone with Nigel Crane's sister, he started towards the door, but stopped short of opening it to leave. "Call if you need me. I'll get Grissom to send a uniform over, just in case."

"Thanks." He picked up his field kit and after casting one last glance at me, he left, leaving me alone with her. "Arms out." I was wasting no time as I reached in my field kit and got my gloves on and tossed some evidence bags on the bed. "Need to take photos. Where are you hurt, other than your leg?"

Renee held out her left hand. "I've got some scratches here and some bruises on my arms. He grabbed me and shoved me backwards after demanding I give him my wedding ring and my watch, then he shot me."

I didn't want to touch the woman so I handed her the scale markers. "Put them here." I pointed to where I wanted them and she held them in place while I took the photos. "Thank you." I took them back from her and tossed them back in my kit. "Where are the clothes you had on? Did the doctors in the ED keep them or what? We'll need those to analyze for trace."

"Um, I think they're with the bullet."

I pulled out a form from the back of my kit and pulled the bedside table over. "Need your full name and address."

"Renee Dawn Willis. My husband's last name is Grimaldi. I never took it when we married. I live at 11215 West Eaves Road in Savannah, Georgia and the ZIP code is 31404."

I wasn't even looking at her as I was writing. I was going through this as quickly as I could, abbreviating just about every word that she was saying. I started to look over my report form, hoping I'd be able to decipher my own code later at the lab. "Phone and date of birth?"

"770-555-4244 and my date of birth is June 13th, 1960."

"Need a narrative of what you were doing. Make it simple and short."

Renee sighed, "I was at the Lucky Horseshoe Casino. I had rented a hotel room there and was getting ready to check out to catch a flight back home to Savannah. I was putting my suitcases in the trunk of my rental car…"

"What make, color and model is the rental car?" I interrupted her story, not really caring. "Also, need the rental company's name to verify."

"It's a blue Chevy Impala. I rented it from Enterprise at the airport."

I was still abbreviating about half of what she said to make the interview go by faster. "Alright, now back to the narrative."

"I was putting bags and my purse in my rental car when I heard someone scream from behind the casino. At first, I thought it was coming from somewhere in the casino, you know like if someone hit the jackpot." I looked up at Renee for the first time since I came in the room. She met my eyes for less than a second before I diverted my gaze back down to the form. "Alright then. Um, I heard another scream and this time, I heard a male voice shouting. I locked my car and put the keys in my pocket and went to see what was going on. When I got behind the casino, a man was holding a woman by the throat and was yelling at her to shut up. He saw me and shoved the woman back between two of the dumpsters and shot me after I was robbed. I fell and he drug me over to where the woman was. He hit me twice that I know of before I blacked out. When I came to, I was staring at two hotel employees. They told me they had called the police and for me to stay awake. I didn't see the lady in the white shirt. Did she get away?"

I didn't answer her right away. I was reading over my narrative, trying to make sure that I'd remember the meaning of everything I wrote down. I made a few notes in the margins of the form to remind myself of what some of the abbreviations meant. "No, she died."

"Oh, no." I heard Renee gasp. I looked at her from my peripheral vision, trying to see if she was faking so I'd look at her. "That poor lady."

"Yeah." After she gave me the description of the suspect, I finished writing the narrative before looking up at her. "Alright, I think I have what I need. Someone from the department will call you if we need anything else. I'll stop by and collect your clothes and the bullet the surgeons extracted."

"So, that's it? I can go home?"

"Yes." I put the narrative form and my clipboard in the side pouch of my field kit before I shut the lid and snapped it closed and sighed. I knew what I had to do before she left. "Renee…" I tried to gather the strength up of what I was going to tell her. "You said when I got here earlier tonight that you deserved this. Part of me agrees. The vengeful part of me is saying you got your just desserts. The other part is saying that no one deserves this. Not even you." I looked over at her and I could tell I caught her off guard with my statement. "I don't know what to think, really. Part of me still hates your guts because of what you did to Anna, but part of me sympathizes with you but that's the part that I'm trying to listen to. My life would have been so much simpler if I never met your brother."

Renee didn't respond. When she finally spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper, "A lot of people's lives would have been a lot better if they hadn't ever met my brother. Mine included."

"Can I ask you something?"

"I guess so. What?"

I stayed where I was, but leaned forward and put my arms on the bedside table. "Did your brother ever do this before? I mean, what he did to my girlfriend and me? Was he always this violent?"

"Why do you want to know?"

I shook my head. "I don't know. If there is a justification for my actions right now, it's that I have gone completely crazy. Call it sheer mobid curiosity or maybe I'm just stupid. I don't really know I guess."

"Nigel was always a troubled soul. My parents tried for years to reach him on any level they could. Nigel was only a bit younger than me, so I was the one closest to him. He was always one to play by himself, even after he was adopted. The neighbors that lived near Nigel's real parents' house said that the Crane family kept to themselves. They were never outside and rarely acknowledged anyone. I guess you could say they were ostracized. I don't really know how to describe it." Renee reached over for a cup of water on the stand beside her bed. After moving her IV tubing again, she took a drink before setting the plastic cup down and finishing her story. "He was always the odd one out. When Nigel realized that he was adopted, he went insane, but to answer your question, the closest he ever came to what he did to you and your girlfriend happened in Savannah right before he left. We were in high school when he was suspected of setting fire to the star quarterback's house. The quarterback of the football team for our high school was a bully. He picked on Nigel until finally one day, Nigel snapped. No one could prove he did it, but the signs were all there. My parents were done with Nigel by this point in time and they didn't care. There was an investigation into the arson, but ultimately, the case was closed because no one saw him do it. Nigel admitted to me he did and I guess I should have said something to someone back then, but I kept his secret because deep down, I thought the quarterback deserved what he got."

Renee had my attention now, "So, do you think if you would have gotten him arrested, you could have stopped all of this? Prevented all of this from happening? I don't just mean Anna and me but I mean everything that he's done since he's been here in Vegas."

"I don't know. I honestly don't. I'd like to think that it'd have no effect on what happened to you and your girlfriend or those two other women, but I know that maybe, just maybe…" Renee started to shake her head, "Maybe if I would have told someone what he did, he would have gotten the help he needed. So many lives were ruined because Nigel was who he was. I feel bad enough as it is, knowing that my brother was as unstable as he was when he called me about you. He killed those two women and then attacked you. I knew I should have come out here then, but I just didn't imagine. I think if I had it to do over again, I would have turned him in. He needed help way back when but I was too blind to see it and as a result, how many people got hurt because of my brother? I wish I could go back and change it all and do what needed to be done back then." She shrugged her shoulders, "Maybe things would be different."

Slowly nodding my head, I was still weary of this woman, but I knew I had to give her the benefit of the doubt. Guilt was a terrible thing and I was dealing with a lot of it over Anna. "Well, that's all I have." I reached down to get my field kit. "By the way, about your arrest from earlier, I had them drop the charges. As soon as you're discharged from the hospital, you can go back home to your family. You're a free woman."

"What? Why?"

"It just didn't feel right to me. My girlfriend left because of you. Well, partly because of you. Even though she's gone, I thought about what she'd want me to do about you after all of this happened. I tried to think about what she'd do if she was in my shoes and I know Anna well enough to know that she'd want me to do the same thing so consider that my good deed for the day."

I made it to the door of the room before Renee spoke again. "Hey, Nick?"

I turned around, letting the door hit me in the back. "Yeah?"

"I really am sorry for all of this and for what it's worth, thank you for taking care of that arrest for me." Renee wound part of the hospital blanket that was on her bed around her fingers, "I know I didn't deserve anything from you and especially nothing like that, but I didn't press my luck when I was told the charges were dropped earlier. I didn't know who did that and when you told me that you were the one doing that for me, well, that never crossed my mind. Just know that if I could take it all back, I would. All of it, including what happened to you and your girlfriend when my brother attacked you. I never meant to upset her like I did and for that, you will never know how truly sorry I am for this, knowing I could have done something to prevent all of this but I didn't. I know you probably won't be able to forgive me, but I just wanted you to know how sorry I am. I do hope your girlfriend comes back."

I put my hand on the door and shoved it off of my back so I could make room for my field kit in the space between my body and the door. "So do I." I looked at her once more before taking my hand off the door to Renee's hospital room and walking away. "So do I."

**A/N: Insert obligatory begging for reviews line here.**


	18. Never an Absolution

**Chapter 18 – Never an Absolution**

"You up yet?" Warrick knocked on the door again. "Nick?"

"Yeah, I'm decent. You can come in." I sat down on the bed to finish tying the laces on my boots.

The door opened and Warrick peered in from the hallway. Once he saw I was fully clothed, he opened the door all the way and sat down in an arm chair that was in the corner of the bedroom. "I don't know if you're ever decent, but I knew what you were trying to say. Almost ready?"

"Yep. Just done now." I shut the closet door as I got my bag and grabbed my keys and cell phone off of the dresser. "Let's go solve some crimes." He got up and I hit him on the shoulder as I walked by. Warrick shut the light off in his living room and we walked outside together. "Ready for another night?"

He hit the button on the remote for his Tahoe. "Let's just hope it's an easy one. See you at the lab." He got in the truck and waved before he backed out and left the parking lot.

I hit the button on the remote to unlock my Tahoe. "Not me. I welcome the hard nights. The more I work, the less I think about you know who." I threw my bag in the back seat and opened the driver's door so I could get in. I shook my head and started the truck, determined to win the never ending fight to keep the memories of Anna out of my head for a little while.

When I got to the parking lot of the lab, Greg and Sara were talking as I parked my truck. They waited on me to get out of my Tahoe and the three of us walked inside together. Greg was going on about a new video game he had bought and Sara and I did our best to act like we cared. I knew Sara well enough to know that video games weren't her forte and right now, I could hardly concentrate on anything except Anna. While the three of us made our way to the conference room to start the shift, Greg either didn't notice we weren't paying attention or he didn't care as we continued to hear about the game he bought.

"There you are. I'm just about to hand out assignments." Grissom pulled his glasses out of his pocket as Sara, Greg and I took a set at the table in the conference room. He started flipping through the assignment papers. "Tonight, for Sara and Greg, you two are in charge of this 419 the Tangiers. College kids in town for their summer vacation according to dispatch. One of the guy's friends called it in. Said the kid had a 'seizure' if you know what I mean. Seems odd he'd have a seizure during the busiest time of the year for tourists coming to Vegas."

Greg reached out and got the paper from Grissom. "Kid is only 19?"

Sara took the paper from Greg as he stood up to leave. "Ten to one this kid's BAC is over .35 and it wasn't a seizure." She shook her head. "Cases like this usually are alcohol related. Later everyone."

As soon as Sara and Greg left, Grissom went back to handing out assignments. "Nick, you and Catherine get your very own 419. This one's out off Grove Highway. Looks like a hit and run. Uniform out on patrol called it in."

Grissom slid the paper across the table and Catherine got it. "At least it's not still raining." She stuck the paper in her pocket and stood up. "Looks like it's me and you, Nicky. What'd the two of you get?" She reached over and got the last remaining slip of paper out of Grissom's hand. "Another wreck. Looks like we're having a fire sale on those today. See everyone later on." She gave the assignment slip back to Grissom and she and I left the office.

I stopped by my locker to get some stuff for my field kit before I went outside. Catherine was leaned against my Tahoe. "You want to drive or should I?"

"I'll drive." I pressed the unlock button on the remote to my truck so she could get in. She opened the back door and put her field kit in the back seat before she got in the front seat.

We rode out to the crime scene in silence. I had the radio on in the background and hoped that hearing the distracting sounds of sports radio would be enough to keep Anna off my mind and keep Catherine from wanting to talk about Anna.

"You okay? You seem quiet."

I shrugged my shoulders, but never took my eyes off the road. Catherine would know if I was lying. She always said it was because she was a mother and always told us she could tell when Lindsey was lying and right now, I would prefer not to test her lie detector skills. "Just tired."

"Hmmm." Catherine gave me a look I've seen before when she teased me about Anna. "Finally get her home from the hospital. I bet you are tired. Anna doing okay?"

I winced at hearing someone else say her name. "What mile marker are we looking for?" I desperately wanted to change the subject before we got too deep in the conversation about Anna and I hoped Catherine wouldn't say anything about me avoiding her question. "I forgot what Grissom said."

I didn't even have to look at Catherine to guess the look she was giving me. "You never forget numbers. You sure you're okay?"

"Like I said, just tired. What mile marker is it?" I let out a sigh and faked a yawn in hopes I'd sell my story to her.

"Mile marker 15. We just passed 14. We should be coming up on it right about nnnn..." Catherine stopped herself as we came to a curve in the road. As got out of the curve, a sea of flashing red and blue lights greeted us. "Oooow."

I parked my Tahoe on the shoulder of the road and we both got out. As I got my field kit out of the back of my truck, I noticed an ambulance was parked just a few feet in front of my Tahoe. I prayed it wasn't Bryan's unit number. I didn't need Catherine poking her nose into Bryan's business and asking him about Anna since I wasn't saying much to anyone about her. Bryan knew Anna was gone, but he also knew that I hadn't told anyone else about her being gone with the exception of Warrick. I told him that I had no plans on telling anyone at work other than Warrick and the only reason he knew was because I was staying with him. I didn't need their sympathy and I asked that both of them keep quiet if anyone from the lab asked either of them about Anna.

I breathed a sigh of relief when we walked by the ambulance and saw that it wasn't the unit number that Bryan was using. The ambulance was from another station.

"And a good evening to you."

Catherine looked surprised to see Detective Vega at our crime scene. "Detective Vega. Haven't seen you in a while. How goes it?"

"Can't complain too much. More work than we have detectives to cover it but that's normal anywhere you go. Highway Man is up ahead, or really, parts of him are ahead. Local uniform cop on patrol saw this and called it in." He motioned behind him over to the median. "And he threw up over there, too. Can't say as I blame him much. Hasn't been on the job all that long."

I got a look at the body in the middle of the road and saw that Vega was right. Whoever hit this man was going fast enough to take both shoes and one sock off and cause compound pedestrian fractures on both of his legs as well as a nasty case of road rash. I diverted my gaze from the dead body to Vega who was standing behind me. "Got an ID on Highway Man yet?"

Vega shook his head, "Nope. Nothing in his pockets, either, but judging from how fast whoever was driving the car was going, if he had a wallet, it could have fallen out of his pockets. Uniforms are searching for the missing clothing items. Skid marks start back north of where the body is. At least whoever hit this guy tried to stop, but failed."

Catherine got her camera out and started to photograph the scene. "Tell them not to look too hard. Doubt they find the shoes. I'll get David to lift some prints for AFIS when he gets here for the body. Nick, head back that way. Check for the usual."

I started to walk in the direction of where the driver would have come from, setting out scene markers along the way. By the time I got a few hundred feet away from the victim, I was putting out marker number eight next to a bloody Nike gym shoe. I got my phone out and hit the radio button on the side of the phone to chirp Catherine so I could let her know what I found. "Got a shoe, Catherine." I put the phone back in my pocket as I set a scene marker on the ground next to a sock a few feet away from the shoe and waited on her to come to me. She snapped some photos and got out a couple of evidence bags and put the shoe and the sock in bags and took them back to my Tahoe to drop them in the evidence bin on her way back.

About three hours later, we wrapped the scene up. David was the one that made the scene and said as soon as Doc Robbins got finished with the post from Sara and Greg's case, he'd start on ours. Catherine and I finished bagging and collecting evidence and headed back to the lab to start processing.

We were working at the lab for about two hours when Catherine asked if I was hungry. After I said I was, she and I left the lab and went to a bistro inside the Excalibur Hotel that was open 24 hours a day. "Feeling better?"

"Huh?"

Catherine reached over and got some cream from the holder at the edge of the table and poured it in her coffee cup after she added some sugar. "You said you were tired earlier. You look like you got your mojo working earlier at the scene."

I took a drink of the Coke the waitress left me as we waited on our food. "Yeah, figured I would after I got out there and got to working."

The waitress appeared a bit later with our food and it didn't register on me how hungry I was until I smelled the freshly cooked bacon in front of me. "Hungrier than I thought." I started to reach over to get the syrup bottle to drown my pancakes when I froze with my hand on the bottle. I was remembering the birthday breakfast I cooked Anna and how I made fun of her for drowning her pancakes in syrup that morning. "Not now. Please, no. Not now." I tried to get the memories of that day out of my head, but I was losing a battle with my own mind. The memories were coming back to me as vivid now as they were on the day it happened.

"Not now what?" I didn't say anything. "Nick?" Catherine watched as my hand fell off the syrup bottle and into my lap. She picked the bottle up and put it in front of my plate. "You okay?"

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." I picked the syrup up and took the top off the bottle and let it fall with a little too much force. It bounced off the table and landed in the middle of Catherine's plate. "Sorry bout that."

She got the top out of the middle of her plate and wiped it off on a napkin before handing it to me. "You're not okay. What's wrong?"

I poured syrup on my pancakes. "I'm fine." I put the troublesome top back on the syrup bottle and slid it across the table, watching as it stopped when it hit the bin with the napkins in it. "Hungry, tired and fine."

Catherine didn't question me right away but I could tell she wanted to. She started in on her meal as we ate in silence. "How's Anna?"

"Fine." I glanced up from my plate, trying to find anything I could use to change the subject on Catherine. My half full drink caught my eye and I picked it up. "I need a refill. Where'd the waitress go?" I looked for her but didn't see her. "Figures. I need something and she takes off." I put my glass on the edge of the table as I went back to my pancakes. "Typical. How's Lindsey? She excited that school is finally out for the summer?"

"That's twice you've done that tonight." Catherine gave me a funny look, but took a bite out of her omelet. "She's fine. She's going to spend some time with a friend of hers at some church camp in northern Arizona. Her friend's grandparents live there. They leave in a week or so and Eddie talked me into letting her go. Linds really wanted to go and Eddie said he'd pay for it and Ed and I know the grandparents and have for a while, so far be it for me to argue. Seems like it's a safe bet for a few weeks for her." Catherine picked up her coffee cup and took a drink before setting it back down. "You should call Anna and have her meet us here. I haven't seen her lately." She reached across the table and pulled the holder with the sugar packets in it in front of her. The waitress stopped by and refilled Catherine's coffee and my Coke. Catherine got a sugar packet out of the holder and poured the sugar in her coffee before adding in the cream again. "She awake? You should call her if she is."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can." Catherine shook her head and tossed a sugar packet at me. "Nick, come on. Just pick up the phone and call. I won't embarrass you too much. Just get her down here. I want to see her. She's been hiding pretty well the past few weeks and I haven't seen much of her since she got out of the hospital." She reached across the table and got my phone and started to scroll through the address book listings looking for Anna's number. "I'll call then since you won't."

I pulled the phone out of her hand and put it in my pocket where it was out of her reach. "Cath, I can't call her and neither can you. Okay? Just drop it!" I shoved my chair back from the table and got up. "I have to go. I'll see you back at the lab. I'll walk." I took one last drink from my glass before setting it back down. I got a ten dollar bill out of my wallet and tossed it on the table before I left the restaurant, ignoring Catherine's pleas for me to wait on her.

Even though she drove us both over here from the lab, I really didn't feel like riding back with her. I just couldn't handle the questions right now.

I was already across the street at the Luxor, standing in front of the hotel before Catherine caught up to me. I heard the sound of her shoes hitting the concrete sidewalk behind me and I stayed where I was and let her catch up to me. "Jeesh, Nicky. I didn't mean to hit a sore spot with you. I just haven't seen Anna in a while and wanted to see her."

I kicked a pebble that was on the ground in front of me. I watched as it went sailing over the fence rails at the Luxor and into one of the fountains in front of the hotel. "So do I."

"Well that's easy. Just go home. You can see her then."

"No. I can't see her. She's not there." I stuck my hands in the pockets of my jeans. "She's not home."

"Where is she? I know she hasn't been cleared to go back to work yet has she?"

"No. She hasn't."

Catherine put her hands on my shoulder and turned me around to face her. She saw a couple of people coming towards us and pulled on my forearm and brought me closer to the wrought iron railings around the fountain outside the hotel. "What do you mean she's not home and you wish you could see her?" I didn't say anything. "Nick, talk to me. Please. What's going on?"

I took my hands out of my pockets and grabbed the railings of the fence. In my frustration of having to talk about this and dealing with the pain, I tried to bend the wrought iron without having any luck. "I don't know if I can talk about her."

"You don't need to break the fence, Nick." Catherine turned around and leaned against the railings so she could see me as I kept my eyes on the water fountain. "Just talk to me. What's wrong with Anna?"

I let go of the railings and folded my arms across my chest. "Anna's gone, Cath. She's been gone about a month. She left and I don't know where she is."

"What do you mean she's gone and you don't know where she is?"

"Did you not hear me? Was I speaking French? Anna is gone. She's not home and I don't know where she is. She left me a note one day about a month ago and said she couldn't deal with what was going on right now and that if I loved her, I wouldn't try to find her right away." I leaned against the fence and faced out towards the street like Catherine was. I watched the people on the street in front of us milling about. "She left me. She's gone. The most important person to ever enter my life is gone. She's the most important person to me now. She's the most important person to me ever and she's gone and I'm all alone."

"Oh, Nick, I'm sorry. I didn't know." Catherine put her hand on my arm as a sign of comfort. "Why didn't you tell anyone? Why didn't you try to stop her? You guys are perfect for each other. You know, it's…it's like everyone would look at you and Anna and we see you together and we all know that it just fits. You know? I think that's part of the reason I pushed you so hard to call her. I knew it, but you needed some help and true love, I've come to understand after watching the two of you, is more than three words mumbled before bedtime. It's a hell of a lot more complicated than that. What happened?"

I let out a sigh knowing there was no way out of this. "I know we're good together. She is the only person I can be myself with, even if I don't know who the hell that is right now because she's gone. We understood each other and we care about each other and I'd like to believe that years from now, even after everything we've been through, we still will. She taught me a sense I never knew I had. I like that someone like her sees something in me or saw something I guess would be the appropriate way for it to be worded now seeing as how she's not here anymore. I'd rather have bad times with her than good times with someone else."

"I know you would." Catherine held out her arm. "Walk with me. Tell me what happened if you want to or if you want, just vent. Yell. Scream. Stomp. Get it all out of your system."

I put my arm through hers and together we walked without having a real direction as to where we were going. "You remember when I told you about Nigel's sister confronting me at the lab, right?"

"Yeah, she didn't try anything did she?"

I shook my head, "No, she didn't. I didn't even know who she was at the time. I had to run by the station and drop off an investigation report with Brass and at the time, I didn't know who the lady was in his office. I left the station and went back to the lab to get finished with the work from the case Warrick and I worked earlier in the shift. I finished with that and got my stuff so I could leave and get home in time to see Anna before her therapy when the dark haired lady stopped me. Come to find out, that was Nigel's sister. She didn't try anything but wanted to apologize for what happened. She told me to tell Anna the same. I left the lab and went home to see Anna but she was already gone for the morning. I didn't see how telling her who I ran into would help her any, so I didn't tell her about meeting his sister. A few days later, we were out at the Hotel Paris waiting on a table and Nigel's sister saw me walk away from Anna and before I could stop her, Renee introduced herself to Anna and that's when Anna flipped out and gave Renee a dose of her inner Sparta. She and Renee had it out in the parking lot again as we were waiting on the valet to bring me my truck. I took Anna home and when I got paged that night to come in early for work, Anna asked if I could call in which I did. I stayed home and she said she was fine and I believed her. Her nightmares had all but stopped by this time and she was happier for the first time since she got shot. She was actually coming out of her shell. I thought she was okay, but apparently she wasn't. Anna called me at work one day a little bit later and she sounded awful. Renee found her again and I guess Renee thought she was doing something good by trying to give Anna some stuff she found in Nigel's store room. Anna threw it in a donation bin and came by work to see me. She seemed off but I chalked it up to seeing Renee. When I got home after my shift was over with, she was gone."

Catherine stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. "Oh, Nicky, I had no idea. I'm so sorry. I really am. How are you holding up?"

"The English language fails to have a word to describe the depths of sadness and how my heart can feel heavy, how my stomach can drop to my feet or how missing someone as bad as I miss Anna can cripple me. There aren't words and with every passing moment is just keeps getting worse. Answer your question?" I regretted snapping at Catherine the instant I said what I did. I shook my head, "Cath, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you."

She waved her hand, "It's okay. I can't say if I were in your shoes I wouldn't snap either. It was a dumb question for me to ask. I already knew you were upset. I didn't expect you to be doing cartwheels in the street because Anna is gone. I'm sorry, Nick. I shouldn't have asked."

"Anyway, I'm fine. I mean I'm not fine, but I am fine. I mean, I'm fine in that area but not that she's gone from my life." I shook my head. "That makes no sense. Everything isn't just fine. I couldn't possibly think that I could hurt any more than I do right now. I'm not over it obviously, but little by little, it's getting easier to pretend that it's easier for me to deal with her being gone which means easier must be close by or I'm just nuts for holding on to her."

"Nick, you have always been a horrible liar." Catherine started walking again as we moved around the other people on the streets. Even as late as it was, the streets of Vegas were never empty. "There are things that we don't want to happen, but we do have to accept them when they happen. I know you didn't want Anna to leave. Anyone can see that. There are things in life we don't want to learn and don't want to have to face, but we have to. Basically, life sucks."

"Yeah it does. I just wish there were rules on how to act. Guidelines. Something concrete. I'm allowed to break the rules when I want someone bad enough. I know everyone probably wants me to let it and her go. They don't think she's right for me seeing what she's put me through. Well, I need her. I don't want to let her go so I'm going to keep holding on tight until she realizes that she needs me, too. I've tried to let go. I try. Lord, I've tried to bury these feelings deep down, so deep that I'm sure no one could tell something's wrong. To the outside world, I had to smile and act like nothing is wrong or will ever be. I wanted everyone to think that everything was fine. For a while, even I believed everything's just perfect until I come out of the fog and realize she's still gone. Then it hits me just like with the syrup earlier. Why is it that no matter how much pain it endures by holding on, the heart refuses to let go? Pretending that it's not over can only get me so far. Do you think she's coming back? I mean, really coming back to me? Or am I holding on to nothing to save my life? No matter what I do, I can't get her off my mind. I'm not so sure I want her off my mind, either, but if she's not coming back, then I guess I need to find a way to let her go. I have to remind myself it's not worth it."

"Sometimes, it's the things that don't hurt at all that make you cry. There are no guidelines for situations like these. If there are rules, I sure don't know what they are. The truth is, everyone's going to hurt you. It happens to all of us. It's in our nature to be wired like that. No matter how selfless someone is, it's a given that we will hurt someone no matter what. You just have to decide who is worth the pain. Is the pain worth it to you to wait on her?"

"It is worth every lonely night. She's worth every tear I cry from missing her and the pain I am going through because she's not here with me. Anna is who I want, but if she doesn't come back, then I…I don't know. She has no idea what she does to me. She makes me feel more emotions in one second than I would normally feel in one year. I don't get how one person can do that. Isn't it funny how I can go without thinking about Anna for four hours in a row, but a song or a bottle of pancake syrup..." I stopped, trying to find the words, "In just in an instant, it can change all that and then the pain comes back and that hollow space she left is feeling more and more like the Grand Canyon with every second that goes by. Do you think she'll be back?"

Catherine stopped at an intersection as we waited on the light to change colors. "Yeah, I do. I do think she'll come back to you. I'd bet my life on it so don't you dare forget about her. Don't think like that. She will be back. The wrong ones can't hurt you. It's the right ones that can and do and will shred you to pieces in an instant. The right ones are the ones that kill you."

"My mother used to always say that if a girl I met was special enough to me, she could say something really small that would fit perfectly into a big empty space in my heart. Right now, my space is pretty big again. I…I don't know. I wish it didn't hurt so much."

"It hurts because you feel it. It hurts because she means so much to you. It hurts because you're alive. You love her and I know that. Because you do, that generates a lot of power and a whole lot of feelings."

"So if I don't get attached to people, then it won't hurt so much?" I couldn't even begin to fathom my life without Anna.

"You know that'd never work, Nick. I know you better than that. You've been alone too long." Catherine smiled, "My mother used to tell me something similar. She always said Sam made her feel that way about how he said something to her and that was all it took. I've learned from experience that you don't choose who your heart follows. You follow who your heart chooses. Let me guess, Anna said something to you that filled a space you didn't know you had?"

"Yeah, she did." I exhaled sharply. "In a big way."

The light changed colors and after looking both ways, we started to cross the street. Catherine and I got to the other side of the street before she said anything to me. "What'd Anna say to you?"

"Hello."

"Amazing how one word can have such a huge impact on our lives, isn't it?"

"Yes." I pondered Catherine's question as I smiled as I remembered the first time Anna and I met. "She said hello to me first then I told her I needed help and she said 'don't we all.' Those were the first words she said to me that very first day we met after I tripped over that flower pot. I said hello and told her I needed help and Anna said that to me. That was the first time I got a chance to actually talk to her after watching her for so long. That was also the last time I saw myself without her in my life."

"I remember that day." Catherine nudged me in the ribs with her elbow. "And if I hadn't grabbed your phone away from you that night, you would have never called her. Course right now, I'm not so sure that's a bad thing. You wouldn't be going through all of this if I didn't grab your phone."

"How true but I'm not mad at you. I couldn't imagine my life the past months without Anna in it." I watched the crosswalk sign change as the stop light changed colors at another crosswalk we came to in our aimless walk. "So does this get better? Or does it hurt worse? Is this what I have to look forward to? Is this where I'm supposed to say I've had enough? Is this where I'm supposed to give up and move on, but knowing I can't?"

"And you shouldn't." Catherine stopped walking and moved in front of me so she could see me. "It won't get any easier until she comes back, Nicky. Anna will come back. I know she will. She loves you. I could see that. Even though she's not here, I can still see that she does love you. Never give up on something you can't go a day without thinking about."

Catherine moved back to my side and put her arm through mine as we continued walking. "Cath, it's just strange when you've got everyone telling you something like she will come back. I just want proof. I know everyone says she'll come back and Lord knows I hope she does, but I need proof while I wait on her. My whole world has been thrown off balance since she left. I'm on autopilot. "

Catherine and I continued our walk as she thought about what to say next. "Nick, love doesn't walk away. People do. Anna still loves you. I know you know that deep down. I know you want her to come back, right? If it isn't complicated, then she probably isn't the one you're supposed to be with. If it's too easy or if the road doesn't have enough obstacles, how can you truly tell if what you have will last without the obstacles? It's the obstacles in life that make us stronger. You win some, you lose some. Things don't always work out how they are 'supposed' to work out. I think that if it's meant to be, a way will be found."

"I hope so too. That's all I have been able to think about since she left me. I not only want her to come back, I need her. I can't go on without her. I realize we hadn't spent a lifetime together like some people, but when I was around her for as long as I was, I changed. She became part of who I am. Anna left and that changed everything and now, I just don't know what to do anymore. I don't know how to live with it being just me. I'm used to it being Anna and me. I haven't thought about myself as just me in months. I don't even know where to begin to define myself without Anna." I felt something catch inside of me. "Just when I think I'm doing better, something happens. Just when I think I'm finally going to get through an entire hour without choking off tears when someone says her name or something happens like the syrup at the restaurant that reminds me of how happy I was with her. Someone points out something to me and it hits me all over again and it's just as shocking now as it was a month ago when she left and it's 'Hello Square One! Nice to see you again.' I feel like I'm useless without her."

"I know. I've been there. We all have." Catherine moved around me and to press the button on the crosswalk at the next intersection we came to in our meaningless journey. "As much as I hated Eddie at the end of our marriage for everything he put me through, it was hard as hell on me. It's much harder than I thought it'd be. There were more emotions in our relationship than I thought there would be. Love isn't something that can be turned on and off and believe me, there are a million other people who like you wish that it could be." Catherine's phone started ringing as we were walking across the street. She let go of my arm long enough to reach in her pocket to get her phone. "Willows." She held it up to her ear with her right hand as she put her left arm through mine again. "Yeah, just have Brass go on and get it. Tell him we'll be there in a little bit and he's with me. We've got something we've got to take care of."

After we were through the intersection, I started watching the people around us as Catherine finished up her phone call. I left her where she was to finish up her call while I watched the couples go by, hand in hand and once again, it reminded me of Anna. I started to make a mental trip down memory lane again when the night of Anna's birthday came to me, but I stopped myself. I was sick and tired of every time I saw anything, it reminded me of Anna.

"Sorry about that. Grissom got long winded. Where were we?" I held out my arm and she took it after shutting her phone. "Wallowing in self pity?"

"I think we were looking for an overpass that you could shove me off of or a busy intersection where I could go lie down in traffic. If we go for the overpass, it'd need to be something really tall that when I hit the ground at the end, I wouldn't feel pain anymore."

"I know you're joking so I'll play along." Catherine put her phone back in her pocket. "There's always the top of the Luxor or the Eiffel Tower at the Paris or you can do a cannonball off the top of the Statue of Liberty at the New York New York. Being serious now, I know how you feel, Nicky. Leaving never hurts as much as being left behind. It's absurd who you love and why and how you can't turn it off when you desperately want to."

"One of the great injustices of life right there."

"We have to head back to the lab. We need to turn around. Grissom was wondering where we had gone off to." After pushing another crosswalk button again, we waited on the light to cycle through so we could cross. "Being broken hearted is like having broken ribs. On the outside, everything looks fine. No one can tell but on the inside, it hurts like hell. Every breath hurts. Every movement hurts. Every day it hurts."

"How do you come up with stuff like this? Broken ribs?" The light finally changed colors and Catherine and I started walking across the street. "Is there a book or something I need to check out of the library? Good Advice for the Hopelessly Romantic?"

Catherine laughed, "No, it's called being a woman, Nick. Women are more in tune to the finer aspects of relationships, especially when it comes to picking up the pieces after the bomb is dropped. When Eddie and I called it quits for good, I never thought I'd feel as bad as I did when he left. I never understood why it was I could hurt in places I didn't know I had inside. It didn't matter how many fights we had or how many nights I told him I was leaving or how many nights he didn't come home. We loved each other and that was what hurt the most. It would have been different if I didn't care. For the longest time after we divorced, I'd go to bed and wonder 'what if.' I'd wonder what I did wrong or how I could have done something different. Most nights, I stayed awake wondering how in the hell I could have thought that we were happy. I'd wonder with all of the crap that he put me through, how in the hell did I consider myself happy? Sometimes I could convince myself I was better off without him, and now looking back, I know I am. At the time, I didn't think I'd get through it, but I did."

I winced, "You do know you're not helping me much right now. You're really kind of depressing me actually."

"I have a happy, upbeat point. I promise."

I hit the button at the next crosswalk. "I hoped so. I really didn't want this to be a 'Make Me Feel Worse than I Already Do' or a 'Drive Nick to Suicide' type of lecture seeing as how we're passing the New York New York hotel now. I'm all ears."

The light changed right after I hit it again. Catherine stayed quiet until we were across the street and back on the sidewalk on the opposite side of the road. "It's hard to be the one who has to be left behind. When someone you love disappears, it's like the light in your life that you were walking with goes dim and you're lost and in the shadows. The path that was once so bright and your way that was so clear is now so dark and cloudy that you that you can't see. You try to do what people tell you to do. You do your job. You know that you're only doing as much as possible to get by and no more. My point of this long and pointless lecture is that you need to hold on. Hold on to the hope that she will come back. I know she will. You may not see it and she may not see it, but I see it. Nick, I've known you a long time. I've never seen you act like you do with Anna around anyone you've ever dated in the past. I saw that the first time I saw the two of you together at that crime scene. You were stumbling over yourself that night whether you want to admit it or not. I had to force you to go see her to get treated. I had to dial the phone for you because you didn't want to call her. I saw it again after we met at that pancake place but that seems like eons ago. It was right after you first came back to work after tripping. Remember that?"

I shook my head, "Yes."

"You were happy. You finally had a reason to actually be alive. Anna was that reason. Anna is that reason still. If you just hold on to that, hold on to the happiness and find the courage to face the days without her for right now, I promise you, she will come back. She will make it okay again. She belongs with you as much as you belong with her." We finally made it back to the casino we were at earlier. I got in the passengers side of her Tahoe while she walked around to the driver's side and got in. "I promise you."

"What if she doesn't? What if she never comes back?" I looked at Catherine, hoping she'd be able to answer that question for me. "What then?"

"You won't have to worry about that. She'll come back."

"I just wish I was as sure as you were. Guess it's always easier looking in from the outside." I looked out the window as she started the truck. I turned my attention back to her and watched as she reached behind her and started to pull the seatbelt out to put it on. "That sick feeling keeps washing over me and I don't know how much more I can take. There's no worse feeling in the world than when I wake up and feel okay for a minute, then I realize it's not okay. I'm at Warrick's, my bed is empty and Anna's still gone and then my world crashes again."

Catherine put her seatbelt on and backed out of the parking space we were in. "It'll be okay, Nicky."

"You know how people say that? How do they know? How do they know that it'll be okay? People say that because they can't think of anything else to say I guess. Still doesn't make it any easier."

I heard Catherine sigh. "I know. It's lame. It's like hearing someone died and your automatic response is 'I'm sorry' even if it happened thirty years ago. I mean, what else are we supposed to say? 'Hot damn, he's dead!' or maybe 'Hallelujah, she's gone. Now where's the inheritance check?' That's one question I don't have the answer to."

I didn't answer her right away. I found myself dumbstruck, staring at Catherine. Suddenly I didn't know whether I wanted to scream or burst into tears.

Giving me no chance to form a retort, she continued. "It's like missing someone isn't about how long it's been since you've seen her. It's about the very moment when you're doing something and you wish that she was here with you. It's like waking up from a really good dream and just wanting to go back to sleep so you can feel it again."

"Endlessly, but the moment never comes." I stayed quiet as she made the last turn onto the street that would take us back to the crime lab. "You're good with words and with the advice. Really good. I just want normal again. I want to get back to normal. I want the normal that included Anna in my life. I want the normal where I'd get a random text at three in the morning after she cleared a scene to tell me she loved me. I want the normal knowing that when I get off work, Anna would be at home waiting on me. I want the normal of walking in on her in her PJs and watching her singing MMMBop in the kitchen or singing some other song as she folded clothes or was bathing the dog. I want her." I stopped talking as she pulled into a parking spot at the lab. "I just want things to go back to the way they were with Anna in my life instead of her being a ghost that haunts me and causes pain every which way I turn." Catherine started to shut the truck off, but she stopped herself. "Is that too much to ask?"

Catherine shook her head. "No, and I know you do. We've all been there before at one point in time and it's not too much to ask. It's all any of us want. Love is everything that it's cracked up to be. That's why people are so cynical about it. That's why it's worth fighting for. That's why it's worth being brave and risking everything for. That's why you have to hold on to the hope Anna will come back because she will. The way the world is and how it's so seldom it is that you meet that one person who just gets you. It's so rare. Remember sadness is always temporary, Nicky."

"Warrick asked me the other day if it was worth it. He asked me if Anna was worth all the pain I was in right now. I told him the thing was that the happiness I felt when I'm with her is unlike any happiness I've ever felt." I gripped the door handle in frustration at the thought of the pain this conversation was going to bring me later.

Catherine reached over and pulled my left hand off the door handle. "Before you break it or you can explain to Grissom why you broke my door handle." She held onto my hand. "Normal is all any of us want, Nicky."

"It's the sadness is what's killing me. The sadness and the loneliness." I dropped my other hand off the door handle. "It's the long periods of time when the happiness is gone. It's unlike anything I've ever felt."

"You want to know why?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Sure. Why not. I could use the perspective."

Catherine unbuckled her seatbelt and started to open the door. "It's because there hasn't been anyone like Anna in your life until now. No one else has mattered to you in the way Anna did. What was the name of the girl you dated last summer? The one Greg introduced you to? Her name was what? Peyton? Gillian? Shannon? Something that ended with an n sound?"

"Uh, Lauren. I think her name was Lauren. That lasted all of two dates."

"See." She shut the truck off and opened the door. "And the one before that?"

I remembered Brandy. I met her a few months before Greg introduced me to Lauren. "You're doing this to me to make a point, right?"

"Doing what?"

"Making me feel bad by bringing up failed relationships."

"Point is that there hasn't been anyone you cared about as much as Anna until now. That's why it hurts so much for you to be apart from her and why you didn't act that way after Lauren and whatshername. Anna has been the only one to affect you like this because she's so important to you."

"I don't know if I can live with this pain much longer. I just don't know anything anymore. I feel like I can't be around anyone right now because I'm so miserable. I don't want to infect anyone else with my miserableness."

Catherine laughed, "Miserableness?"

I smiled. "Hey, I'm from the south. We make up our own words." I started to laugh. "I needed that. Thank you."

"You're welcome." Catherine didn't go inside right away. Instead, she went to one of the benches that were outside the lab and sat down. "Didn't think you wanted to go in right away."

"I don't." I sat down on the bench and looked up at the night sky. "Can't see the stars. Too much extra light outside."

"That's Vegas for you."

"What kills me is that ever since she left, I can sit here and stare at nothing and see her in everything. I still remember every expression on her face. I remember the sorrow. I remember the happiness. I remember the look she gave me when I told her I loved her for the first time. I remember the look of relief that day in the hospital after she woke up from her first surgery when she realized I was okay. I remember the look she gave me when I was regaining consciousness after I got hurt. I remember the look she had on her face after…" I interrupted myself when I felt the sadness coming on about what I was about to say. "I remember the fear in her eyes after she shot Nigel. I remember the look of pain when I held her in my arms as we waited on the police to show up after she killed Nigel. I remember the fight in her eyes as she tried to stay alive for me. I remember the look she had on her face as she was reciting that poem to stay conscious. I remember the look she gave me at the karaoke bar that night. I remember the look she gave me when she treated me that first day we met. I remember the look she shot Bryan that same day so she could be the one to treat me. I remember it all and it's at times like this, I wish I couldn't. I just can't believe I miss her this damn much." I couldn't stop the tears from coming, but Catherine was one person I wasn't ashamed to cry in front of. I knew she wouldn't judge me.

"You miss her that damn much because you love her that damn much." Catherine reached over and took one of my hands in hers. "The pain stops when she comes back and she will come back. I believe that she will. I know that she will. Have faith."

"You seem so sure." I looked down at the ground, trying to hide the fact that the tears were still present. "I'm not sure anymore. I don't know if what I have is faith or stupidity that I'm holding on to so tightly."

"Faith isn't faith until it's all you're holding on to." Catherine stopped and waved to a LVPD officer in a squad car that drove by us before continuing. "After Eddie and I split up, I was a wreck. My mother wasn't much help considering she never liked Eddie to begin with, so I turned to Sam. I knew no matter what, he'd tell me the truth. He always explained to me that loving someone and then losing them is like losing an arm or a leg after an accident. He told me that his dad lost an arm when he was younger because of an accident he was in. Sam said that when people first lose a limb, they feel it there and it still hurts and they'll do anything to numb the pain. He said a body part would be easier to lose and I have to agree with him on that one. Eventually, the brain realizes that it's not there anymore and he'd eventually move on. He said losing an arm he could deal with. It's the people that he cared about the most that he couldn't live without. The heart never learns."

"Now I know why I like you so much." I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. "I'm beginning to think the phrases 'love' and 'excruciating, agonizing, gut wrenching pain' can be used interchangeably. I think I'll go anti-love from here on out. Butterflies in the stomach. Heart skipping beats. I'm no expert, but that can't be healthy on a body."

"Smart ass. You know that'll never work." Catherine noticed a few people walking out the door of the lab and didn't say anything until they were out of earshot. "Pain makes us who we are. It teaches us. It tames us. It can destroy us in one instant and save us in the next. It's the keys to our kingdom and the skeletons in our closets. It's capable of taking our breath away and giving it back. You'll just have to breathe deep and wait on her to come back. It plays unfair when it hits you below the belt and doesn't let up. The truth is, you can't outrun it. You can't hide from it. The only way it'll go away is when Anna comes back. It won't be a question of 'if' Anna comes back. It'll be when Anna comes back."

I sighed. "And you're sure she will?"

Catherine stood up. "I would bet my life on it. She loves you too much to stay away from you forever. Look at what all the two of you have been through so far and it hasn't even been a year yet. I can see the connection you and Anna have. I've never known two people more meant for each other than you and her. I saw it the first day she treated you after you about killed yourself over that flower pot. I saw it the next time you were at work after you spent those days off with her. Life may not be a perfect circle. Your journey may take you up and down the mountains a few times, but eventually, it'll work out."

"Why do relationships have to be so hard?" I let out an exasperated breath. "One of the great mysteries of life I guess."

The wind picked up and blew a loose strand of hair in Catherine's face. She used her hands to smooth out her hair and tucked the fly away strand behind her ear. "The only thing harder in life than being in love is being alone."

"Touché." It took a minute for what Catherine said to sink in. "You got me on that one. Makes sense though. It is hard being alone."

Catherine and I got up and together we walked to the door to go in. She held the door to the lab open for me. "Now let's go solve some crimes."

I followed Catherine back to the lab and we finished processing what we collected earlier. After we finally reached a stopping place, I went down to the locker room and got my stuff so I could leave. Warrick met me in the hallway on my way down and said he was due in court in a little bit and would be late getting home which meant I'd be alone in the apartment.

I left the lab quickly to keep anyone from stopping me. I wasn't in a big hurry to get to Warrick's empty apartment, but I was in a hurry to get away from work.

I got a parking spot right in front of the sidewalk that led to Warrick's building. Grabbing my stuff out of the back of the Tahoe, I hurried up the sidewalk and unlocked the door to his apartment and pushed it open. I got a bottle of water out of the refrigerator before heading back to the bedroom I was using. I threw my bag and keys on the floor and tossed my cell phone on top of the dresser. I pulled the shirt I had on off and tossed it in the corner of the room before I fell on my back on the bed. I stared at the ceiling as I watched the blades on the ceiling fan spin. I got up and reached in my bag and pulled out a picture of Anna and me. I took it down out of my locker about two weeks ago and put it in my bag. I didn't want to see her every time I opened my locker. "My hands are glued to my side but they're aching just to touch you." I ran my fingers over her image. "Anna, Anna, Anna. Where for art thou my Anna?" I laughed. "I know that quote doesn't really work, but you get the idea." I went to lie back in the bed, still holding onto the picture above me so I could see it. "I need you back. I don't know why you left me. I don't understand it." I rolled over on my stomach and put the picture on the pillow next to me. I folded the edge of the pillowcase up so I could prop the picture up and stare at it as I was lying down. "Seems kind of stupid I'm talking to a picture, but you're not here and I miss you. I call your phone just to hear your voice on the voicemail message even though I know you won't answer. I need you. I know you said you need some time apart from everything, but I've got a broken heart and you're the only one that knows how to fix it." I picked the picture up and ran my fingers over it again. "It's like I woke up today and I was finally brought out of whatever coma I was in. It hit me. It was my rude awakening today. I thought I hit that the day I got home and found your note. Today, it hit me and hit me hard. It reminded me of being back in Texas when I was a kid. I'd be outside playing with my sisters or my neighbors and it'd be hot as hell outside. I'd come inside and the cool air from the house would make me catch my breath when I went from the heat outside to the air inside. I went from one extreme to another." I pulled the pillowcase back up to prop the picture back on it again. "When you drop something on the ground, it makes a sound, right? Why is it when my heart breaks, it doesn't make a sound? When you drop a glass or a window shatters or a table falls, it makes a noise. It makes a noise loud enough for everyone to hear. You'd think that with the heart being so vital for life, it'd make the biggest sound when it breaks. The only sound I hear is silence. I guess that's the loudest sound of all." I stared at Anna in the picture. "I love you. I don't know where you are, but I love you. I'm trying to stay positive that you'll come back, but I don't know. Please." I picked the picture up in my hand. "Anna, please. Don't leave me. I miss you so much that it hurts and I wish you were here with me. I am pretty numb at this point."

I left the picture where it was and got up to take a shower and change into something I could sleep in. I was actually surprisingly tired for some reason. I checked up front and Warrick still wasn't home yet. I changed into a t-shirt and some gym shorts and got back in bed. Before turning the lights in the room off, I cast one last glance at the picture on the pillow next to me. As I picked it up once again, I smiled at the photo. I set it gently on the table next to the bed and propped it up against the lamp. "How's that quote go from that show you are forced to watch at work? 'At the end of the day, you either focus on what separates you or what holds you together.' You hold me together, even when you're not with me. The sparkle in your eye put the stars to shame. The first time I saw you was the last time I saw my heart. I love you, Anna." I shut the light off and pulled the covers up and over my head and waited on the dreams of Anna to fill my head as I slept.

**Anna**

"Anna?" I heard my sister's voice behind me, but I ignored her. "Anna?"

Realizing she wasn't going to go away until I acknowledged her, I rolled my eyes and sat up. "Yeah?"

She took a few steps toward me and sat down on the wooden box that was at the edge of the deck that I was sitting on. "Hungry? Eric just made dinner."

I shook my head and took my shoes off and went to lie back on the deck. I let my legs hang over the edge so I could stick my feet in the water below me. "No, I'm not but thank you."

"Anna, you need to eat." Samantha groaned and stood up. I knew that sound enough to know it was exasperation, and not because she cared. It was because she was sick of me acting this way. "Did you go to your physical therapy session today?"

"Yes, mommy." I kept my head turned towards the water so she couldn't see the look I gave her. "The physical therapist says for me to finish this week and part of one more week and I'll be done. She said my healing is progressing ahead of schedule."

"Anna."

"What?" I still didn't look over at her. When she didn't speak, I sat up and turned around. "Yes?"

"Really. If you miss him that much, then go home." My sister looked down at me as I shook my head and went to lie back down. "It's obvious you're miserable without him. If Nick means that much to you, which obviously he does or you wouldn't be this monotonous, go back to Las Vegas." She started walking towards the edge of the deck to go back to the house. "You sure aren't worth anything here."

I sighed, "I wish it was that easy, Sam. If the nightmares and memories weren't so vivid in my head on top of the sister coming after me, I wouldn't have ever left. Every time I turned around, I wondered if she was nearby with my head in her gun sights. That was the part that scared me the most. Plus now that I've gone, what happens if I go back and he doesn't want me? Then what?"

My sister sighed, "Then you move on."

I wondered why I bothered talking to my sister about this. "Sam, I know you don't get it because apparently the most traumatic experience you've ever experienced has been when the florist put daisies in your bouquet for your wedding rather than lilies. No wonder you can't go near a florist anymore without that horrifying look you had on your face when Aunt Gwen handed you that bouquet of tulips and daisies. That's how I feel, only a thousand times worse except I almost died twice from my experience. Your horrifying experience just didn't match the bridesmaids' gowns." I shook my head and sat up again so I could look at her. "If I'm that much of a pain in your ass, I'll go to Bryan's parents' house. Just let me know if I need to leave and I'll be gone again." I was hoping that my sister would take the hint and leave me alone.

"I'll do us both a favor and not even comment on the flowers. I'm not kicking you out. I told you that you could stay as long as you needed and I mean that. You are my sister. I just wish I knew what to do with you. I wish you knew what to do with yourself." Sam looked at me and turned to leave, muttering something in French about me needing to wake up and do something with my life and walked off back to the house.

"Avez-vous oublié? Je parle français aussi, ma soeur." I know I said my smartass remark loud enough for her to hear me, but she didn't have a retort or if she did, she didn't say it loud enough for me to hear. She kept walking back towards the house. "Bitch." I shook my head and went back to my solitude. She was about halfway up the gravel path when I looked up once more to make sure she wasn't watching me. I kept an eye on her until she made it to the top of the hill where the house was and she was out of my view.

I stayed where I was for the rest of the afternoon and watched as the afternoon sun gave way to the darkening night sky. I kept my seat at the deck that hung over one edge of the pond on my sister's property. My feet were hanging over the edge of the deck which had become my home away from home since I got here. I kicked my feet around in the water as I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of nature surround me. It was just about dusk and the lightning bugs flitted around in the darkness in the trees at the edge of the pond. The light show they put on provided entertainment for me until I realized the mosquitoes would be out shortly thereafter and I had to either go inside or find some bug spray. I got a can of Off out of the built in tackle box my sister was sitting on earlier as I kept my legs in the water, continuing to kick my feet under the water's edge and watching as the splashes made ripples in the pond. I sat up and used the bug spray on my legs and arms as I leaned back and stared up at the night sky and watched as the stars came out for the night. The wind picked up a little bit and I relaxed as I heard the wind blow through the beans in the field behind my sister's house. It was peaceful. It was quiet. It was what I needed. The words to 'Caledonia' came to me as I was lying down. I closed my eyes again and with my voice barely above a whisper, I sang the words that were in my head.  _'Let me tell you that I love you, that I think about you all the time. Caledonia, you're calling me, now I'm going home. But if I should become a stranger, know that it would make me more than sad. Caledonia's been everything I've ever had.'_

I had been here a couple of weeks and some mornings after my therapy session was over with, I'd call Bryan and check in. He didn't know where I was and I used a calling card and a pay phone so he couldn't trace the call. After I spoke to him, I'd come down here to get away. I loved my sister, but I just needed to be alone. That's why I left Vegas. I asked Bryan if he thought Nick would be angry at me and though Bryan assured me Nick wasn't mad, I just couldn't do it. I was scared of the ramifications of my actions. I wasn't ready to face the fact that Nick may not want me back anymore.

I stayed where I was until it got too dark to see. The moon was overhead with a few clouds in the sky, but it provided a enough light through the cloud cover for me to see where I was going. I put the can of Off back in the tackle box on the deck and I stood up and dusted the grass and dirt off of the shorts I had on and bent down to pick my shoes up before I slowly made my way back up the gravel path to my sister's back door. I knew by now she'd already be in bed and I didn't have to worry about the nervous glances that she kept casting in my direction when she didn't think I was looking. My parents had been here for about a week and they also kept a watchful eye on me while they were here.

I started up the wooden porch steps to my sister's house and peered in through the kitchen windows when I got to the back door. I watched as a few lightning bugs flew around in jagged patterns just out of my reach. It was my nightly routine that before I went to bed, I'd stop and say something to Nick, knowing there was no way possible he'd even hear me and considering what I had done to him, not sure if he even cared anymore. I closed my eyes and listened as the locusts provided the soundtrack to the dark place in my life that I was permanently stuck in. I turned to face the dark western sky again. "I'm sorry, Nicky." I pulled the door open and stepped inside, opening the main door to the house and stepped inside as I listened as the screen door gently shut before I quietly shut the main door and locked it. I stared hard at the phone hanging on the wall in the kitchen. After checking the time, I picked it up off the cradle and hit the talk button. I heard the dial tone and started to dial Nick's number. I got the area code and the exchange numbers punched in before I stopped and stared at the phone in my hand. I hit the end button on the phone and put it back in the cradle, leaving my hand on the phone after I hung it up. I finally dropped my hand to my side as I opened the door to the fridge and got out a bottle of water before I took the steps at the back of the house up to the room I was staying in. Silently walking up the steps, I saw that my sister's door was shut and my two nephews had their doors shut as well. "Everyone's asleep. Good." I changed out of the clothes I was in outside and into a t-shirt that I slept in and reached over for my iPod. I put the headphones on and pushed play as I went to lie down on the bed and pulled the covers up across my chest.

"So ends another night." I closed my eyes and listened to the songs that played on my iPod, but I was restless. Leaving my iPod on the bed, I got up out of bed and went to the bench seat underneath the window that faced west in the room I was using. I put my hand on the center pane of glass in the window as I stared up at the stars and sighed as I felt a lone tear fall from the corner of my eye. I pulled my hand off of the window and wiped the tear out of my eye before I pulled on the string to let the blinds drop and twisted the rod to close them. "Good night, Nicky. I love you." I cast one last glance at the blinds as they obstructed my view of the western sky before I got in bed and pulled the covers over my head and silently cried myself to sleep.

**A/N: So Anna makes a return…what'll happen next? Stay tuned and please review.**

**The French phrase Anna said to her sister translates to "Did you forget? I speak French too, my sister."**

**Kinda bleak, I know. This was really, really hard for me to write without wanting to burst out crying myself. I've always gotten the impression that by watching CSI, Nick was always the emotional one and I did my best to convey it in this chapter. Having had a really, really bad breakup myself, I know how Nick feels in my story. If you don't agree with how I have portrayed Nick, then by all means, don't read anymore. This is MY story and this is how I interpreted the character and how he'd act if this happened.**

**Reviews? Pretty please?**


	19. When You Come Back to Me

**Chapter 19 – When You Come Back to Me**

I put my fingerprint duster down and looked at the print that was now visible under the black powder on the counter. "Dusted the whole counter. You tried to hide. I knew you were here somewhere and I gotcha." I reached in my kit and got out a fingerprint tape lift card and broke the seal on it. I put the lift on the counter where the fingerprint was and ran my fingers across the tape and pulled it up, lifting the fingerprint on the counter onto the card. "Score one for Nick. Somewhere in the world, a scoreboard lit up. Nick: 1. Fingerprint: 0." I smoothed the tape out on the white backing and got ready to sign it, but I froze in my tracks as I listened to the song in my head.

' _Let me tell you that I love you, that I think about you all the time. Caledonia, you're calling me, now I'm going home, but if I should become a stranger, know that it would make me more than sad. Caledonia's been everything I've ever had.'_

No matter what I was doing, I kept hearing the verses of the song playing over and over again in my head. I heard the song twice tonight already while Catherine and I were here. I heard it again last night as I was doing laundry and two days ago as I was in court testifying.

"Nick?"

"Huh?" I was so engrossed in the song lyrics that I kept hearing that I didn't hear Catherine calling me at first. I don't know how long she had been calling me, but when I turned around to face her, she had a look on her face that let me know she'd been trying to get my attention for a few moments. I was just standing in the middle of the room holding onto the tape lift card. Before I turned around, my eyes were closed as I stood there listening to the memory of Anna's voice as she sang that song to me causing everything else to drown out. The pain that came along with the song washed over me once again as I realized that was all it was – just a memory. Anna still wasn't here and I was still alone.

"I asked if you were done and this is going to sound strange, but were you talking to a fingerprint?"

"Yeah, I guess I was talking to it." I shook my head trying to shake out the verses of the song that had been haunting my mind constantly for the past week. "And yes, just done here." I threw my gloves into an evidence bag and sealed it and tossed the bag into the bin next to Catherine, "I'm sorry, I'm just off. Something's different. I don't know. Can't put my finger on it." I dropped the fingerprint card in the bin after I signed it, "Been like this for a week or so."

"Have you heard from her?"

I shook my head, "No. Nothing. Bryan said he's talked to her some since she left, but she's basically just withdrawn from everyone. He did tell me that he is the only one she will talk to. Bryan told me Anna's parents called him trying to find out what's wrong. Anna won't talk to anyone about it except him."

Catherine checked her watch, "Go home, Nicky. It's after ten. This is about wrapped up here and I can handle it. It's Sunday and you're off anyway."

"And what am I supposed to do once I get there? Laundry? Warrick's already let me wash everything in his apartment twice."

"Go for a Sunday drive?" Catherine tossed another bag into the bin by her feet, "You'll figure it out. I have faith in you."

After thanking Catherine, I got in my Tahoe and drove back to the crime lab. I got my bag out of my locker and rushing outside before anyone could stop me, I opened the door to my truck and got in. As I slammed the door shut and started the truck, the song Anna would sing to me came back to me again.

' _But I'm steady thinking my way is clear and I know what I will do tomorrow. When hands have shaken, the kisses float, then I will disappear.'_

"I'm glad someone's way is clear. Mine sure the hell isn't anymore." I reached in the glove box and pulled out a photo I kept of Anna and me in there. I held it in my hands as I stared at her. "Anna, without you, I don't know who I am anymore. All I need to know is that I'm something you're missing. I'm scared of who I am without you. I'm not sure of who I am anymore." As I stared at Anna's form in the picture, I realized that I couldn't take it anymore. I had to find her and I knew who'd be able to help me find her. I dropped the photo I was holding in the passenger's seat as I backed out of the parking lot and took off in the direction of the fire station where Bryan was.

I maneuvered through traffic, dodging cars that were going too slow for me until I reached the tan brick building. After parking my truck crookedly in a parking spot, I grabbed the photo that I was looking at earlier and got out of my truck. I ran the short distance from my truck to the side door of the fire station and banged on the door, not caring if I woke anyone up. It was late morning, but Anna had told me in the past that when she worked, she and the rest of the crew slept whenever they could. I waited impatiently for someone to answer. Finally the door opened and Bryan was standing in front of me, "Bryan."

"CSI Man? You okay?"

"No, I'm not okay. I haven't been in about two months. Bryan, where is she? Please? I need an idea. Help me. Give me somewhere to start." Bryan stepped out of the way and opened the door enough to let me come in. "Please, I know you might know something about where she is. Please. Help me find her."

He took me in the hallway that led to the common area of the station, "What's wrong?"

"Bullfrog! Take it outside." Bryan turned around. Two firemen and another paramedic were on the couch watching TV. The medic was the one doing the yelling as he threw a pillow at Bryan. "Damn it, man! All My Children is on! Greenlee got arrested."

He caught the pillow easily and left it on the back of one of the recliners in the room, "It's on the DVR. You can pause it you know." The medic's only response was to flip Bryan the bird as he and the other two firemen turned the volume on the TV up louder so they could hear. "Come with me before they get mad." Bryan led me out to the bay where the fire trucks and the ambulance were parked.

"You watch All My Children?" I looked through the window at the grown men sitting on the couch, engrossed in a soap opera.

I could tell Bryan was embarrassed about their secret. "Yeah, Aggie got us hooked. She would DVR it and watch it when things calmed down and slowly but surely she got us all watching. Don't tell anyone. We're supposed to be men but..." He motioned to the photo I was holding. "What's the picture of?" I handed him the photo I was holding and he looked down at it, "Nick, Aggs and I have done a lot of really stupid stuff in our time, but her leaving is by far the most stupid thing she's ever done."

"I need to know if she still loves me. I need to know if she still needs me. Does she still love me? Does she still need me?" Bryan didn't answer. "Please. I need to know. Help me, please. I know you have an idea. You're the only one I know that she's talked to about me."

Bryan leaned back across one of the engines and folded his arms across his chest. "What do you think?"

"Man, I don't know. She high tails it out of Vegas six weeks ago after leaving a note telling me she was leaving and didn't know where she was going but nothing about if she still loves me though I love her. She told me if I still loved her I wouldn't try to follow her, at least not right away. So no, I don't know if she loves me or not. I've done my best to shove her out of my head, but something's different now. I don't know."

"God, she's an idiot and I'm so gonna kick her ass when I see her again for being this damn stupid." Bryan looked at me and shook his head. "Nick, she does love you. She loves you more than life itself. I've known Aggie her whole life. I've always been closer to her than her own sister and I know how she talks about you when you're not here. I see how she is when you are here with her. I saw how she was when you were in the hospital. I also see how she is now that she's not here anymore. She won't admit it now because she's suffering from Acute Pneumoencephalopathy."

Bryan didn't speak right away. He kept his head down as I tried to figure out what he meant. I was clueless and worried that not only Anna was gone, but now she had some deadly disease, "She's suffering from what?"

"Acute Pneumoencephalopathy." Bryan looked up at me and smiled, "She's an airhead. She's an airhead who is miserable without you. I know how she was before she met you. I saw how she was after she met you. I see how she is now that she's not here. You complete her as much as she completes you. Before she met you, she was trying to find something. After you came along, she finally stopped looking. She knew you were her everything."

"Everyone keeps telling me that we complete each other and all that and I believe that myself, but still, if that's the case, then why isn't she here? You're about the fourth person to tell me that in as many weeks. Help me. Please." I pulled a folding metal chair off of a rack behind me and sat down. "Help me. I can't lose her."

"She's been through a lot. You know that and I don't just mean getting shot. I mean everything. She's hurting emotionally. Getting shot like that really screwed her up, but not nearly as bad as meeting the deranged guy's sister and that's probably why she left if I had to guess. She left thinking it'd help her get over it. She called me two weeks ago, crying her eyes out. I talked to her for over two hours that night just listening to her cry and I begged her to come back to Vegas and to you. Even Cathy tried talking some sense into that thick redheaded skull of hers. Aggs said she was begging God to help her not love you anymore. She kept saying over and over again that it was too painful." He unfolded his arms as he took a seat on the metal step on the side of the fire engine. "I asked her if she could live without you. She didn't answer because the thought of losing you scares the hell out of her. I can tell she's not doing well. Aggie's standing on a fine line between giving up and seeing how much more she can take. She's changed and it scares me."

"I've changed also. I've gone from someone who slept to someone who doesn't cause closing my eyes means putting in the Anna tape and pressing play. If she misses me, then why'd she leave? If she loves me so much, why'd she leave?"

"That one I can't answer for you. I'm not sure if she knows why she did. You said earlier something was different. What is?"

"The same two verses of a song she loves keeps playing over in my head. It's the same song she sang to me in the hospital after I got shoved out of the window and the same one I sang to her after she got out of surgery. I don't know what it means now that I'm hearing it all the time. I was at a scene earlier and kept zoning out thinking of the song as it played in my head. It was just two specific parts of the song that she sang to me when I was in the hospital and it's only just started. When I picture myself years from now, I see only her. No matter how painful distance can be, not having her in my life would be worse. That's why I'm here. Help me. Please."

"She knows that also even if she's too stupid to admit it." Bryan got up from his seat on the step of the engine. "Wait here." He disappeared inside the fire station and came out a minute later with a yellow legal pad and a set of keys. "Here." He tossed me the keys with his left hand so he could balance the notepad on his right forearm as he got a pen out of his pocket and wrote something on the notepad before he tore off the sheet and handed me the paper. "Keys to my wife's truck and you'll need this. I was gonna call and give you this but since you're here, you saved me a phone call."

I took the yellow page from him. "What's this and why are you giving me your wife's keys?" I read what he wrote on the page. "And who lives in Fayetteville?"

"You're in the Tahoe? The company truck? You parked it outside in the lot, right?"

"Yeah, I need to move it or something. I know I parked sideways in the lot when I got here, but I was in a hurry to see you after I heard the verse to that song again."

"Don't worry about that. Just go get her. Take Cathy's truck and go. Forget going home and swapping cars. Just go. Get Aggie and bring her home with you where she belongs. She's at her sister's and that's the address where she is in Fayetteville. Aggie finally told me where she was earlier this morning. I think subconsciously, she wanted me to know because she knew I'd tell you, hoping you'd come get her or call her or something. Cathy gets lost easily so I put a GPS in the truck. Type in that address and go get her."

I stared down at the ripped yellow piece of paper Bryan gave me and his wife's keys. "She told me not to. She said if I loved her, I'd…"

Bryan broke in, "I know what she said, Nick. She told me that's what she wrote, but why else do you think you keep hearing Caledonia?"

He caught me off guard when he guessed the song I was hearing. "How'd you know that's the song I'm hearing?"

Bryan shrugged, "Wild guess. Aggie told me she's been singing it again. That's the same song her mother used to sing to her when she was a child. She always said it helps her remember the good times. She'll be in the middle of doing something and that song will pop into her head. Don't you get it? Go get her."

"I remember you told me that at the hospital but what if she…"

"Damn it, CSI Man." Bryan got off the step again and started to shove me towards the door. "See this?" He held up my picture before giving it back to me.

"Yeah, I see it."

"Look at it." He got the picture back from me again and held it out in front of me where I could see it. "What do you see?"

I held out my hand and he gave it back to me. I stared at it, remembering the day it was taken. "I see the woman I love. I see the woman I can't live without."

"I see the same thing. I see that the two of you belong together. I see two people that are meant to be together, even if one of them is too stubborn to admit how much she needs you right now. I see someone standing in front of me who needs to get his Texas ass in my wife's truck and go get the woman who completes him before I'm just gonna have to kick your ass like it's never been kicked before."

I sighed, "But Bryan, she…"

"No buts. Go. Get Aggie and bring her home where she belongs. No wonder she loves you so much. You're about as stubborn as she is." Bryan shoved me again towards the door. "Get in my wife's truck and go get her before I kick your Texas ass all the way to Arkansas for being stupid. Now go and you better not come back with anything Longhorns on that truck or I will kick your ass!"

I stared down at the picture that started this whole conversation and the piece of paper telling me where Anna was. "Thank you and Anna won't let me put anything on it. I promise." I turned to leave but stopped myself. "But wait? How are you gonna get home?"

"I'll call Cathy to come get me or have one of the guys take me or hell, I'll skip to my loo the whole way home if it comes down to it. My wife's truck is messy. Go!" He shoved me again. "Let me get Cody's car seat out and after that, just throw what you don't need in the cargo area. Now let's go! You got a girlfriend to go get!"

I unlocked Cathy's 4Runner and went to my Tahoe so I could get my phone and a few other items I needed out of my truck. I got what I needed and came back and got in the driver's seat as Bryan was getting the car seat out. I told him I'd let him know how it went and that I'd get someone from the lab to get my truck. "Don't tell Anna I'm coming, please? I don't want to spook her and have her leave on me again." I gave him the keys to my Tahoe. "I'll call someone now to come get it. Just give them those when they get here. It'll probably be Greg or Warrick."

"You got it. Tell her I want my partner back. She understands my humor. Now go before I kick your Texas ass like it has never been kicked before." He put the keys to my Tahoe in his pocket and picked up Cody's car seat before stepping back so I could back out and leave.

I thanked Bryan again and left the station. I put the picture of Anna and me on the dashboard so I could look at it while I drove. As I waited on a light to change colors so I could make the turn to merge on the highway, I typed in the address to Anna's sister's house into the GPS. The light finally changed and I took a deep breath and turned on the highway headed east to get Anna and bring her home. "God give me strength."

After I was safely on the highway, I set the cruise control and pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed Catherine's number and on the third ring, she answered. "Cath, I'm going to Arkansas. I have to see her. I just have to know what's going on. I need to see her. I need her to know how I feel."

"I know, Nick. I figured you'd wind up going. Be careful and I hope it works out well for you. I know you miss her."

"Can you get someone to go get my Tahoe from the fire station Bryan works at? I left the keys with him. I knew I couldn't take the Tahoe to Arkansas, so I got Bryan's wife's truck."

"I'll send someone over to get it later after I get done up here." Catherine sighed. "Nicky, she may not see this now, but make her see that she needs you. Make her see that she needs you as much as you need her. Bring her home where she belongs."

I told Catherine goodbye as I tossed the phone into the seat and sped up a little bit more, knowing that with every passing mile, I would be that much closer to seeing Anna.

After stopping to get gas about two hours after I left Vegas, I got back on the interstate and floored it once again. I had to stop and get gas several more times, but just under a day after I left Vegas, I arrived in Fayetteville. It was just before eleven o'clock in the morning when I saw some signs directing me towards the University of Arkansas and the highway I needed to take. I pulled over to a gas station to refill the truck again after making the last turn off the highway before starting the last part of my trip through the more rural part of Fayetteville where Anna was. As I looked at the GPS so I could try to figure out where I was, I realized after looking that I wasn't that far away from where Anna's sister lived. I finished filling the truck up and started on my last few miles before I could get to Anna. I begged Bryan not to tell her I was coming and he swore to me he wouldn't.

I made the last turn off the paved road and onto a gravel road that led straight up a hill. Bryan had told me that Anna's sister's house was up on a hill towards the end of the road. I passed a few farm houses and several ponds as I kept looking for Anna's sister's house. Finally finding it, I parked Cathy's SUV behind a green Honda Civic and an older model Ford F150 and an Arkansas State Trooper police car. There were two children playing in the front yard that didn't even pay any attention to me as I walked by them to get to the front porch. Taking a deep breath, I knocked.

The door opened and woman who looked a little bit like Anna answered. She looked like she was older by several years and taller than Anna was by about five or six inches and her hair was a shade or two darker and was straight rather than the natural curls Anna had. She saw me and let out a ragged breath. "You must be Nick." I was taken aback at how she knew me already. She pointed to my vest, "Your name is on your vest. What are you doing here?"

I looked down and realized I didn't even take off my work vest before I left Vegas. I was so focused on getting here that I didn't even remember to leave it in my Tahoe. "Can I come in, please? I just drove here from Las Vegas." She opened the screen door and stood to one side as I came in the living room and motioned for me to sit down. I took a seat on the edge of an ottoman while she sat on the couch in front of me. "I'm Nick Stokes. I'm Anna's, well, I'm not sure anymore what we are actually."

"I know who you are. I'm Samantha Malone, Meri-Anna's sister. How'd you find me?"

"Bryan. Anna's friend. He said Anna had talked to him earlier yesterday and she told him she was staying here with you. I needed to see her so I came here to do that. I didn't mean to intrude and I'm not here to cause problems. I take it Anna told you what happened and why she left Vegas?"

Samantha looked towards a window when she heard a noise outside. She got up from where she was sitting and looked out the window to check on whoever it was that shouted. "Yeah I do." She came and sat back down before her eyes met mine again, "Look, she's not here, but yes she did tell me. My sister has told us bits and pieces of it at least. I don't know the full story of what happened to her, nor do I think I want to. All I know is she called me one night about seven weeks ago while you were evidently at work or gone or something and she was crying saying she couldn't do this anymore and asked if she could come see Eric and me. Eric's my husband by the way. I could tell something was wrong with her, but I didn't press her. I'm sure you know by now the harder you press Meri-Anna, the more she shuts off."

"Yeah, I found that out right after I first met her. She told me as much and I've done my best not to press her about anything, but it's been six weeks since I spoke to her and I just need to see her or talk to her or something. I just need to hear her tell me what she wants. I need to know if she still loves me or if she wants me to fall off the face of the earth. I just need to know something. I have been patient with her this long, but I can't continue to live like this."

"Nick, she's not here, but I can answer one of those questions for you. Meri-Anna does love you. I know that for a fact. I've been able to read her quite well ever since she was born. She can be a stubborn, pig headed pain in the ass of a person, but when it comes to matters of the heart, she's easy to read. She falls in love very hard and falls very quick when it comes to love and she loves truly with everything she has. My sister always has. The times I've seen her, she won't speak about what happened or the real reason why she's here or anything. All she does is play with that heart necklace she wears and sings the same song over and over. She's catatonic. She just touches the necklace and just stares off into space and if I had to guess, you gave her that necklace didn't you?"

I swallowed the rising lump in my throat, hoping to choke off tears. "Yes. I gave it to Anna for her birthday this past May. She was wearing it the day she got shot. She took it back after it was released from evidence and I don't think she's taken it off since. I told her when I gave it to her that she's had my heart since the first day we met and now she could wear something that reminded her every time she looked at it or felt it move how much I love her. I didn't think she'd wear it after she left."

"She has and she won't let anyone touch it. Meri-Anna had to have an MRI right after she got here for her physical therapy to continue. I basically had to sit on her to get it off of her while they did the MRI. The instant she was done, she flew off the table and got the necklace back from me and demanded I put it on her before the MRI tech was finished pulling the gurney out of the machine." Samantha got up, "Are you hungry or thirsty? I should have offered you something when you got here, but you took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting company, let alone a strange SUV with Nevada plates and then when I saw you coming up and read the name on your vest, I didn't know what to think."

"No, I'm fine as far as that goes." I followed her into the kitchen as she poured herself a glass of water and watched as she drank some of it. Samantha didn't say anything, so I did. "Samantha? Please. Help me find her. I just want to see her or talk to her once. Please. Help me. Can you tell me where she is? Anything?"

Samantha put her glass on the counter and turned around to face me. "Nick, I wish I could help, but I don't know where my sister is. She just goes from here to there. She doesn't stay in one place for long."

I looked up at Samantha and stared her straight in her eyes. "Samantha, please. Help me find Anna. I love her and I can't lose her. Tell me where I can find her or call her, please. Just tell her to come see you or let me talk to her or something."

Samantha studied the expression on my face and exhaled sharply before saying anything. "I don't know where my sister is and she doesn't have a cell phone. She calls me from different places to check in from time to time. I couldn't even begin to tell you where to look. Fayetteville is a pretty good sized city and that's not counting the more rural areas of the city and even in the county. Look, if she calls, I'll tell her you're here. Are you going to stay in town or what?"

I tried to hide the defeat in my voice. "Yeah, I guess so."

Samantha got a piece of paper from a notebook on the counter. "This is my phone number. Just call me and let me know what hotel you're going to be at and your room number and if Meri-Anna calls, I'll tell her you're here. Do you have your cell phone with you or something?"

"Yeah." Samantha handed me the notebook she was using. I wrote my number down for her as she handed me the piece of paper with her number on it. She stuck the notebook back on the counter as I folded the piece of paper she gave me and put it in my pocket as I got up to leave. She followed me out of the kitchen and up to the front of the house again. "I was just hoping I could see her or talk to her or something." I opened the screen door and stepped outside and when I looked down, I saw a circular pattern on the porch that was darker than the wood surrounding it. "What was here?" I didn't notice it earlier before I came inside. I could tell something was there at one point in time, but it was gone now. The sun had bleached the wood around it, but this circle stood out. Whatever was there before was there long enough for the wood to fade around it. "A vase?"

"No, it was a flower pot. A terra cotta flower pot to be precise. One of my kids did a skateboard stunt off of the porch or tried to really. My son, Marc, tripped and went flying off the porch and the skateboard hit the flower pot and cracked it. My other son, Christian, came in to get me telling me his brother was bleeding pretty badly and Marc needed stitches from his stunt. Anyway, Meri-Anna came by as we were leaving. I had to wait on my husband to get free to come get Christian so I could take Marc to the hospital. Meri-Anna had come by after her physical therapy and saw it and freaked telling me to get rid of it. I tried to explain to her that my son just broke it and I was taking Marc to the hospital, but she kept crying and making a huge scene over nothing. I tried to ask why that flower pot set her off like that, but she shut down and wouldn't talk. I didn't have time to deal with her then. My son's chin was bleeding pretty badly from the skateboard stunt."

I thought back to the first time we met and the murdered flower pot and to the one I broke at the golf course. "Oh, God. Anna. Anna." I bent down to touch the circle on the porch. "Anna."

"Are you alright?"

"That's how we met." I stood back up and wiped my hand on my jeans. "I got hurt at a crime scene. I tripped over a terra cotta flower pot and broke it. She was the paramedic that treated me on the scene. It's always been an in joke between us about me murdering that flower pot." I could feel the tears start to come back to me again as I remembered that day. "That's why she freaked out. It reminded her of me."

"I guess now I know the whole story. She wouldn't calm down until Eric and Christian got rid of it after I got home with Marc." Samantha stared at me and folded her arms across her chest. "You love my sister, don't you?"

"Yes. I wouldn't have driven as far as I did in a borrowed truck otherwise. I have to see her. If she wants me to leave, you have my word that I'll leave, but please, I'm begging you, where is she? I just want to see her and tell her how much I love her and if she wants me to leave her alone, I will. You can chase me off with a shotgun or watch as I get back in that truck and leave and though it'll be the hardest thing I'll ever do, I'll get in that truck and I'll go back to Vegas. You have my word, I won't bother your sister again if that's what she wants, but I have to know one way or another where we stand. Please. Help me."

"Come on." Samantha turned to walk around the side of the house after she told her kids she'd be right back. She led me down the steps of the porch at the side of her house and around and into the back yard. "I was just trying to protect my sister. I lied earlier and I'm sorry. Meri-Anna is here. If you'll look over there, there's a gravel path at the edge of the fence line. That gravel path right there will take you down the hill and there's a pond at the end just past that grove of trees. If I had to guess, she's down there. That's where she's spent every day since she's been here if she wasn't at therapy or asleep. Meri-Anna goes down there to cry or to pray or whatever it is she does. She doesn't laugh anymore. The light is gone in her eyes. My baby sister is an empty shell. I don't know if that's from what happened to her or leaving you, but maybe you're what she needs now. All she has ever done since she got here was wake up, go to therapy, come home, go down to that pond and cry or whatever until nightfall forced her to come in and go to bed only to have her start the day over again. Now that her therapy is over with, I hardly see her. Meri-Anna 's gone before I get up and she's gone when I go to bed. My kids miss their aunt and my parents miss their daughter. My parents and I have tried to reach her, but she won't say anything. The only person she will speak to is Bryan. We've all tried, but she won't speak to anyone else and even when she talks to Bryan, she doesn't tell him much. They've always been really close and I quit trying to figure out the deal between the two of them years ago."

I pulled Samantha into a hug, "Thank you." I stepped off the porch and started towards the driveway so I could throw my work vest inside Cathy's truck.

"Just promise me one thing."

I looked back up at her, "Anything."

Samantha leaned against a column on the porch and folded her arms across her chest again. "If she wants you to leave, please do so. I don't need her more upset than she already is. I'm afraid right now she won't come back to us if something else happens. I don't want to have you forcibly removed from here, but I will if I have to in order to protect my sister. My husband is a state trooper."

"I give you my word if she wants me to leave, I will go. No questions asked." After tossing my vest in Cathy's truck and running by Samantha as she watched me from her position against one of the columns on the side porch, I took off in the direction where she told me Anna was.

The gravel pathway leading down towards the pond and the distance were the only things holding me back. As I picked up speed running down the pathway, the trees I passed became blurry visions as I heard the gravel crunching underneath my boots. I came to the end of the pathway and saw Anna. I felt my heart pounding in my chest as I watched her. She was sitting against a large cypress tree and I noticed that her hair was shorter than the last time I saw her. Anna was facing the pond and didn't see me approaching. Her legs were crossed at her ankles and she was holding a wild flower in her right hand as her left hand slowly traced the outline of the chain of the necklace around her neck as she blankly stared across the pond. The last time I saw her, she had the sling on her right arm and she couldn't move it. I watched as she twirled the flower between her fingers, relieved that she had the use of her arm back. I started to walk towards her and as I did, I stepped on a twig and when it snapped and made a noise, she looked up.

"Nick?" Anna stood up quickly as she dusted the grass off her shorts. "What are you doing here?"


	20. Caledonia

**Chapter 20 – Caledonia**

I couldn't explain the feeling that I felt when Anna said my name. She had said my name a thousand times in the past, but for some reason, it caught me in a different way when she said it this time. "Yeah. It's me."

I could tell Anna had been crying just like her sister said. As it started to sink in that I was really here and not a figment of her imagination, Anna looked surprised to see me. "What are you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you one last time. Bryan even let me have Cathy's 4Runner to come see you. I needed to talk to you."

"You drove all the way from Las Vegas? To here? In Cathy's truck?" Anna dropped the flower she was holding, "To talk to me? One last time?"

"Yeah, I did." Anna started to walk away, but I stopped her when I put my hand out and caught her. I felt her body tense up under my hand. "Anna, please." She had her head down but looked up at me eventually. "Look, I know what happened in Vegas at my apartment with Nigel was hard. Hell, Anna, I'm still dealing with it." I put my hand on her cheek, trying any way I could to connect with the woman I loved.

"Nicky, I…" Anna reached for my hand and rather than pulling it away from her face like I thought she'd do, she left her hand on top of mine and closed her eyes and sighed, "I am…"

I interrupted her, "Anna, I should have never let you go back to the apartment that day. I should have fought harder against Nigel. I should have done a better job protecting you from Renee. I'm so sorry for both. You got shot. I understand that. You killed a man. I understand that, too. Anna, you saved my life. Without you, I'd be dead. He had me on my knees getting ready to put a bullet in my head then he was probably going back to do God only knows what to you. He was going to kill me. I thought you were already dead and I didn't know how I could go on without you. You saved my life and I can't lose you. Not after all that we've already been through. If you and I aren't meant to be, then I don't know anything." With my hand still on her cheek, I watched as her facial expressions softened and her rigid posture relaxed even more.

"Ah, fantastique."

I looked up to see what caught Anna's eye and saw that the two kids that were in the front yard came running down the trail and ran by us. I dropped my hand from Anna's face and turned to watch them as they attempted to not appear as obvious as they were, "Your sister's doing?"

Anna took my hand in hers, "She sent her kids down to act as spies. She's about as subtle as a flying brick. It's got to be that nosy French side of her."

"Walk with me then." I took her up the gravel path towards Cathy's truck as I spoke, still holding on tightly to her hand. "Anna, I love you. I always have and no matter what, I always will. If there was a way I could take back what happened to you that night in my apartment, I'd do it. I'd do it a thousand times over to show you how much I love you." I stopped when Anna reached up with her other hand to wipe a tear out of my eye. I caught her hand as she took it away from me and I interlaced her fingers with mine before I kissed the top of her hand. "When I read that letter you left me almost two months ago, my heart broke. I did what I had to do to get by, but nothing else. I was miserable. I went to a really dark spot and was on the verge of falling in before I got pulled out." I looked down at my hand as I felt her fingers tighten around mine. "I begged your sister to tell me where you were after I spoke to Bryan yesterday. She swore you weren't here but as you can tell, she eventually told me the truth. I just had to see you once more." I looked at Anna's face, trying to get a read on what she was thinking. "I need to know what's going on and you know as well as I do that you can't say we aren't right for each other. The way I see it is we aren't right for anyone else. I hope you know how much I love you. You don't have to love me back, but I already gave you my heart a long time ago." Still holding her hands in mine, I let go of her left hand so I could put my right arm around her waist and put my hand on the small of her back. "I need to know, Anna. Please. My heart wants me to ask you, but my mind is too scared of the answer. What do I do now? Do I go home alone? Do I take you home with me?"

Anna didn't say anything. She just looked up at me before closing the short distance between us as she put her arms around my waist and leaned her head against my chest, burying her face in my shirt as she sighed, "Not a second went by that you weren't on my mind. It was you and me, over and over again."

I started to say something, but Anna pulled away and looked up at me before she made a face and turned around. "Anna? What?"

"Not you. It's my warden." Anna groaned as she looked over her shoulder. Her sister was still watching us from the same place I left her when I went down to the pond. After casting a nasty look at her sister, Anna started towards the passenger side of Cathy's SUV as she shot her sister another look. "Get in." Casting one last glance at her sister, she yelled something in French. Anna shot her sister a nasty look, "Nous serons de retour."

"She hates me?"

"That's an understatement. She wanted to know where we were going. I told her we'd be back. She yells in French trying to be an ass about it."

Anna got in the passenger's side of the car and threw some stuff in the back seat as I got in and started the car, "Where to?" I put the truck in reverse and waited on Anna, who was still glaring at her sister though the glass.

"I don't care, just go. I can't do this with my sister watching us. She's already on the war path because you're here. I can see that and I haven't even talked to her since you got here. Just go out the street you came in on and go that way." Anna pointed east and I did as she said. As we were about to turn off the gravel road and onto the pavement of the cross street, Anna saw the picture I had put on the dashboard and pulled it off and held it in her hands. "I remember this." I glanced over as she had her head down as she looked at the photo and I started to see her smile. It was the first time Anna had smiled since I had gotten here.

We rode in silence for about a mile before Anna saw a park. "Pull in. This is fine, but go all the way to the back. It'll be out of the way and we'll be hidden in case my sister comes to find me."

The park was relatively empty. As I followed the path in the park I noticed only a couple of cars in the parking lot. I started to pull in but Anna told me to keep going. I found a grassy area at the back of the park, away from everyone else. It was under a grove of trees off to the side where we were hidden from view. The only way anyone would see us was if they came back this way deliberately and judging by the vegetation around, people rarely came back this far for anything.

Since it was so hot, we stayed in the truck in the air conditioning. Anna pushed the center console up, sending an avalanche of coins into the back seat and scooted as close as she could towards me without physically sitting in my lap. "Nick, I don't know where to begin." Anna looked down at the photo in her hands as her fingers traced the image of the two of us. She put it back on the dashboard and looked up at me, "I let go of someone so special to me, it was someone I never knew I needed until I didn't have you anymore. It's my fault. It's my fault I made you cry, and it's my fault you are dealing with pain and misery." She angled her body to where she faced me and crossed her legs. As her knee came to rest on my right thigh, she reached over for my hand and took it in hers as she rested her forehead on my shoulder and cried. I put my arms around her and held her tightly.

Anna stayed like that for a few minutes before she sat up and looked up at me with tears in her eyes. I reached forward to brush the tears from her eyes as she slowly leaned towards me. I put my arms around her shoulders again and held her tightly as her lips finally found mine for the first time in almost two months. Anna wrapped both of her arms around my neck and held me tight, never once breaking the kiss. Everything around us disappeared as she held me as tightly as I was holding her. I tightened my hold on her even more as the kiss we were in became more passionate. Anna climbed over into my seat and sat in my lap as we kissed each other harder. I leaned the seat we were in back far enough to get us both in the back seat with me on top of her. She reached up and pulled my shirt off of me as I hit the button on the seat to move it back up to give us more room. Not caring about anything, I tore her shirt off of her, sending buttons flying everywhere as I ripped it off. Still with my lips firmly locked with hers, I undid the belt on my pants and the zipper and slid them off as I helped her take off her shorts. Anna finally broke the kiss as she looked up at me, "Make love to me, Nicky." She didn't give me a chance to answer and instead kissed me harder again.

As she pulled away from me, her eyes were telling me what I knew all along. Saying what she was trying to convey to me with her eyes, Anna's voice was barely above a whisper as I kissed her cheek and made my way down the side of her neck and her shoulder. "I've missed you so much and I'm sorry." She pulled me closer to her and kissed me harder before breaking the kiss again. "I'm so sorry." I put my hand back around her neck and brought my lips up to meet hers and the passion that had been building up inside of both of us was finally about to be let loose. After waiting so long, we finally came together in the back seat of the truck as we made love. Anna rarely pulled her lips away from mine and I didn't let her go until we were both finished and she was breathing short, heavy pants, just like me.

I tried to move over on my side as much as I could in the cramped quarters of the back seat but wasn't having much luck. After I got situated to where I wasn't crushing Anna, I noticed the scar on her right shoulder from where she was shot. I reached over her body and kissed it. I pulled myself back and kissed her lips again. "Anna, I'm so sorry. You have no idea how sorry I am for all of this. It's my fault…" Before I could finish my statement, Anna brought her lips to meet mine again kissing me as passionately as she did earlier.

"Ssshhhh…" She brought her fingers up and pressed them against my lips before she kissed me again, "We probably need to get our clothes on before someone sees us."

I got up off of her and put my clothes back on again as Anna pulled on her shorts and held up the remains of her torn shirt. "Oops." After kissing her again, I took the shirt from her and held it up to see the damage I did. "Looks like I owe you a shirt." Anna tossed the shirt in the cargo area and found a bright pink scrub top of Cathy's in the floorboards of the SUV and slipped it on.

"Nick, I'm the one that needs to apologize to you. I bolted out of Vegas after all this happened to me and I hurt you and I'm sorry. I wish I could take that back but I can't d..."

I interrupted her once again, "Anna, you don't have to say any of this."

She started to lean back against me as I adjusted myself and leaned against the door so Anna could lean into me. I put my arms around her and I felt her absentmindedly use her fingernails to lightly trace imaginary patterns on my arms. "I know I don't have to, but I need to. I owe you an explanation as to why I left and the only way I can do that is start at the beginning." She let out a heavy sigh, "When Nigel shot me, I was on the floor. I don't remember a lot of what happened, but I kept thinking to myself, 'God, I don't want to die. Please, don't let me die until I know Nick is safe.' That bastard raised the gun to shoot me a second time and it jammed. Then you came in the room and took his attention away from me as he got the jam fixed and then I got shot the second time. I remember him leaving the room and I remember you calling someone on my phone and holding me, but after that I was slipping in and out of consciousness. It was only after I heard him shouting at you about your manners that I knew he was getting ready to kill you. I said a silent prayer and asked for the strength in my body long enough to save your life. I don't know what happened. I can't explain it, but I felt this jolt of energy hit me and I reached up to the mattress and pulled myself up and then reached for the gun and pulled myself out into the hall. I heard him screaming at you again, and I closed my eyes and begged my body to work with me as I stood up. I leaned against the wall and staggered out to where I saw what he was doing to you." Anna started to cry again as I held her tighter and she continued, "I, um, saw him holding the gun on you. I don't remember the first shot I fired. My head was spinning. I couldn't focus on anything but him and what he was doing to you. I remember he fell over and you were there, on your knees and you hit the table and I knew I had to shoot him again. I don't remember how many shots I fired off but I shot him again and again as he laid on top of that other man, bleeding to death." She stopped to wipe tears out of her eyes, "I don't remember you coming to me. I don't remember dropping the gun. I just kept thinking he wasn't dead and he was about to get up and kill you. After you caught me, I remember thinking 'Thank you, God. I can die now. You can take me Home. Nick's safe.' I felt myself start to lose consciousness for good after that and that's when I started reciting 'The Windhover' to stay awake. I kept reciting, even as I slipped in and out until you carried me outside and I screamed at the medics who said you couldn't come with me." She got up from my arms and turned to face me, "I don't remember much until I woke up after my surgery and you were gone. Catherine was there with me and Greg was there and when I saw the two of them after I woke up and not you, I began to panic thinking something had happened to you. I think they tried to explain what was going on, but Cathy came in and gave me a shot of something to make me relax, then you came in."

I knew I couldn't do anything about protecting her from the past, but I could protect her from having to relive it. "Anna, I …"

Anna leaned forward and kissed me again, "Please. Let me finish. I have a point, I promise." She took one of my hands in hers and continued, "I owe you an apology, but I'm not sure if words are enough. I know you know how bad I was screwed up after getting shot. I mean, you were there during the nightmares and the crying and me just being a blithering fool, going on and on about everything. The time after I got released from the hospital until Renee found me at Wal-Mart, I just kept trying to think of anyone to blame. I couldn't understand why that deranged lunatic attacked me then tried to kill you, but I believed that if I could put the blame on someone, it would make sense and I could move on and had started to until his sister found us that day. It didn't bother me that much then, but when she found me again, I had it. I called my sister and she told me that if I never met you, this wouldn't have happened, so that's when I left Las Vegas. I requested a leave of absence from work and I rented a car from the airport and just drove. I stayed in Colorado with a cousin for a bit and then left. I was driving east with no real destination until I heard a song on the radio that reminded me of my sister. I decided then to head here. So I called her again and told her I was on my way, and for the past few weeks, I've been here. I learned that getting mad was a lot easier than being upset. When I was mad, I realized I could control the anger. I could control who I was angry with. I could settle into the anger and realize I had someone to blame for all of this. I could focus the anger on something else rather than focusing on the pain in my heart." Anna looked up at me, "But I never stopped loving you. It was miserable and maddening and it seemed right at the time, but I was wrong. I was an idiot."

I smiled, "Bryan said you were an airhead, but he had some fancy term for it. Until he explained what it was, I was terrified you had some deadly disease and not only were you gone, but you were gonna die alone."

Anna laughed, "He said I was suffering from Acute Pneumoencephalopathy?"

"Yep. That was it. He said that and made it sound so convincing that I thought he was being serious and you had some deadly disease or something."

"That's a Bryan Brooks original term. In any event, I tried living without you and I can't. I can't live without you in my life. I knew in my heart I couldn't blame you for what happened but I let outside forces weigh in on my decision and I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault. It wasn't anyone's fault and I guess that was what I was having a hard time with. I wanted someone to blame for all of this, but I couldn't blame anyone but Nigel and I guess I needed to blame someone else but couldn't. He was the only one to blame. You didn't know he was a space cadet psychotic lunatic with an Oedipus complex mixed in with homicidal tendencies when you got the cable hooked up." Anna kissed me again, "Can you forgive me? I know I hurt you and I'll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for that and I'm so sorry. I'm so very, very sorry I hurt you. I've known it since the moment you kissed me that I loved you, and maybe even before that, and as scary as it is, I don't want to deny it anymore and I don't want to run from it, and I don't want to let it run from me."

I leaned down to kiss her, "Anna, I love you. You know that. Seeing you in that hospital bed, barely hanging on to life and not knowing if you'd live or not, I still have nightmares about that. I didn't know what I'd do if I lost you and like you not being able to live without me, I can't live without you in my life, either. I wish I could have done a better job of protecting you from that space cadet psychotic lunatic in your words, but that's in the past and I can't do anything about that now. When you left Vegas, I didn't know what to think or do. I wanted to come after you. I wanted to call you or hear from you, but I respected your wishes until now. I just kept hearing that song you sang to me in the hospital after I got hurt over and over in my head…"

Anna interrupted me, "You heard Caledonia?"

I kissed her gently, "All the time and I didn't know what it meant. I didn't know if you were trying to tell me to come get you or that you'd always love me and you were letting me go, but I knew I had to try. I knew when I came out here, I was taking a huge risk of driving you away forever, but I had to know what was going on between us. I got tired of not knowing. I just needed to know one way or another where we stand. I guess that's the question I still need answered. Where do we stand?"

"I wanted to call you or come home, but I didn't. I was scared." Anna looked up at me, "I've missed you and…" I watched her as she got quiet a minute as she stared at me, "I need you more than I've ever needed anyone ever before. I love you more than I ever thought I could love anybody. Take me home, Nicky. I belong in Vegas." Anna kissed me and leaned her body against mine as she put her arms around me and buried her face in my neck as she whispered the words I've wanted to hear for the past six weeks, "I belong in Vegas with you. I'm not complete if you're not with me and you have no idea how sorry I am for what I've done. I'm an idiot and a moron."

I held her just as tightly and said a silent prayer of thanks that Anna wanted to go back home with me, "I will under one condition."

Anna pulled back and wiped tears out of her eyes with the back of her hand, "Anything. Just name it."

"Meri-Anna Gabrielle Gigandet." I took her left hand in my right hand and interlaced my fingers with hers and did the same thing with her right hand in my left hand as I held her hands tightly in mine, "Marry me."

Anna caught her breath, "Oh, Nicky."

"Marry me. I want to marry you because I have never loved anyone the way I love you. When I sleep, I dream of you and when I wake, I long to hold you in my arms. If I've learned anything since you left, our time apart has only made me more certain that I want to spend my nights by your side and my days with your heart. I don't have a ring or anything and this isn't how I imagined it happening, but marry me, Anna." I kissed her and held her close to me as I whispered what I wanted to tell her while she was so close to me, "I can't live without you. Do you know how hard it is for me to let you go every time I had you in my arms? I can't go through that again. I don't want to have to let you go again. I love you and have since the first day I met you. I can't live without you and I won't let you live without me."

"I don't want to live without you, either." Anna started to cry again, then in the middle of her tears spoke the one word that made me the happiest man on earth, "Yes."

"Yes?"

"Yes." She hugged me tightly as her tears soaked the top of my shirt. "Yes. Yes. Yes a thousand times, yes." She used the edge of the scrub top she was wearing and wiped the tears from her face then used it to wipe the tears from mine. "I can't live without you, either. I tried. Epic fail." She kissed me again, "Take me home, Nick."

We left the park and headed back to her sister's place nearly three hours after we left. Samantha stormed down the steps and towards Cathy's truck as we got out, screaming at Anna in French, "Où avez-vous été?"

"She wants to know where we've been." Anna shut the truck door, ignoring her sister, "I have to go get my stuff. Wait here." She kissed me as she left and ignored her sister and kept walking with Samantha still shouting at her.

From what French Anna had taught me, I knew Samantha wasn't happy about my presence and demanded I leave here alone and not to come back. Anna disappeared inside and came back out a moment later. Still ignoring her sister's rants, she opened the back door to the truck and tossed a dark purple backpack and a small suitcase in the cargo area as Samantha continued to yell at Anna. Anna slammed the door and turned to face her sister. I caught part of it and the part I did catch was something about Samantha being upset Anna was leaving with me. The hateful glance Samantha threw my way didn't help either.

"Shut up! Damn it, Sam. Shut the hell up!" Anna walked back up the steps and disappeared back into the house with Samantha still yelling at her.

Following up the same path they took, I opened the door and I could hear Anna yelling back in French at her sister. She made her way down the steps and stopped at my side with Samantha still speaking French in front of me. Anna shook her head and looked at me, "Let's go." She took my hand in hers and we started outside. Samantha said something in French that caused Anna to turn around. "I can't believe you just said that." Samantha said something else in French which angered Anna even more. "Sam, shut up. I am not gonna stand here in front of Nicky and argue in French so he can't understand how much you hate his breathing guts."

"You're making a mistake, Meri-Anna. Damn it, he got you shot."

"Would you stop calling me Meri-Anna!" Anna dropped her bag on the floor and turned to face her sister once again. "Don't even go there. Nick didn't shoot me, damn it. That deranged lunatic did. Nick had nothing to do with this."

"It's your name, MERI-Anna." Samantha didn't back down after she over pronounced Anna's name, "You think you know him, huh? Do you? He slept with a prostitute. How's that?"

I started to defend myself, but Anna didn't give me a chance, "And you slept with your biology professor to get a passing grade in college. So what?"

"Meri-Anna!"

"Samantha Celine!" Anna exaggerated her sister's name to drag it out to make a point. "You are using my full name for a reason?"

"It is your given name whether you use it or not." Her sister took a step back and reached for the stair railings, "How did you know about the college incident?"

"Doesn't matter and it was also in the past. If you thought you'd shock me into staying by telling me that about Nick, you're wrong." Anna reached for my hand, "I've known that for a while."

" Quoi que." Samantha scoffed, "And if you would have stayed here like our parents wanted, none of this would have happened." She let out a laugh as she let go of the railings, "But you are always the rebel wild child. You're the one that pranced off to San Francisco with Bryan and away from everything even after our parents begged you not to go. Now look at what it's done to you. Bryan ruined your relationship with Andrew and he's going to ruin this one. I don't see why Cathleen trusts you as much as she does. She's a fool and you're insane."

I started to say something, but Anna stopped me once again. She dropped my hand and took a step towards her sister. "I don't expect you to understand nor do I care what you think or what our parents think of me and how I opted to live my life. Bryan is my best friend and always has been. You're just jealous I've always been closer to Bryan and his siblings and parents than you and our own parents. Damn it, you're my sister and you've always been a frigid bitch to me when I did something you didn't like which was basically everything I ever said or did. Bryan's been more of a family member to me the past thirty two years of my life than you've ever been. There has never been anything between Bryan and me other than friendship. His wife trusts me knowing there is nothing going on there and there never will be. I have to hear it every time I talk to our parents how disappointed they are in me that I'm doing some demeaning job in their words rather than live like you and mooch off my husband. They don't say it but I hear it in their voice. I didn't turn out like you. I didn't go to college for four years and work on my MRS degree like you did. I got a real degree and I bolted away from here with my best friend, but you know what? I'm happy. I left SanFran and followed Bryan to Vegas where I met Nick." Anna stopped ranting at Sam long enough to look at me and smile. "He saved me. Damn it, I love Nick with everything I have and he just asked me to marry him and I said yes. I'm going back home with him. I'm going back to my home and my life that's waiting on me in Vegas. I don't belong here. If you can't accept that, then that's fine, but I don't care anymore. You're not stopping me from going home with Nick." Anna picked her bag up, "Au revoir ma soeur." After casting one last glance at Samantha, we left the house, got in the 4Runner and headed back west in the direction of Las Vegas.

We got about ten minutes away from her sister's when Anna started to apologize for her sister. "She's still mad I left home. I didn't want to stay here. I didn't belong here. I was bored."

I yawned, "What was she yelling in French? I know she's pissed I showed up. That much I understood from the tone of her voice, but the part about her bringing something up, what was all that about?"

"Samantha reminded me of why my relationship didn't work out with my ex, Andy. Andy blamed Bryan for just about everything and Samantha says it was Bryan's fault that Andy and I didn't work out. Bryan has always been my best friend and is a better family member than Sam is and that's a terrible thing to say about my own sister. I've always been closer to his parents than my own. My sister was born in Canada and when she was about eight, my parents, grandmother and sister came here when my dad got offered a job, then about four years later, I came along."

"Anna, I know that Bryan is your best friend and I respect that. I know that you love him, but like a brother and not like how you love me…right?" I feigned a worried face, "Or is your sister right?"

"Smart ass." Anna could tell I was joking with her, "Well, he never has asked me to marry him. Well, at least not when he wasn't slobbering drunk and throwing up in my toilet and swearing he was gonna die after his bachelor's party. He said he was gonna marry me for knowing how to take care of him."

I laughed, "That doesn't count and I think Cathy would have had something to say about that but getting back to your sister, is the age difference the reason why you're not close or is it something else?"

"Sort of. Samantha was twelve years old when I was born and she had her own life and didn't have time for her baby sister. That's why Bryan and I grew so close. He was my best friend ever since we were born. Sam reminded me of that fact and how happy I was with Andy and yeah, I was at one point in time, but I'm not going to put on a façade and pretend everything's okay as my world crumbled down around me because Andy was an ass casserole. So I left and I wound up in Vegas." She leaned over the center console and kissed me again. "And with a man I love with every fiber of my being."

I couldn't take my eyes off the road, so I just held her hand a bit tighter as I drove. "It took guts to stand up to your sister like that." I tried not to yawn, but I did again. "I have an idea."

"What's that? Stop somewhere and sleep?"

"That too and I'll need to find a Wal-Mart or something and get some clean socks and a few other things. I didn't exactly plan this little trip to come see you. I only grabbed my bag I take to work and that only had a clean undershirt and extra shoes in it." I eyed a road sign that we drove past as we continued west and crossed over the Oklahoma border from Arkansas. "We're sort of close to Texas and I was just thinking it might be a good idea to introduce my family to my fiancée and all. I wouldn't want them to get shocked when we announce our wedding plans later on down the road. I want them to meet you first and seeing as how we're not that far away from Dallas, might as well."

"Fiancée. I like the sound of that." Anna smiled, "I'd love to meet your family. Hope they're not as dysfunctional as mine is. How far of a drive is it?"

"Not that far out of our way. My parents moved from Dallas to a suburb right outside of Dallas. We'll be there in no time if you're up to it. Plus my mother would disown me if she found out I was this close to Texas and didn't stop and see her. I need to call them though." I yawned again as I glanced at the clock on the radio.

"Then let's head to Dallas after we get you some socks." Anna watched me yawn again, "Nicky, how long have you been up?"

"To Dallas we go then. As for how long I have been up, it's what, late afternoon now?"

"Yep. More specifically, it's 3:30 local time."

"Since Saturday night when I went in to work. Catherine and I got assigned to a robbery case. I left Vegas on Sunday morning around ten after she told me to go home. I heard Caledonia again as I was getting ready to leave and I stopped by the fire station and talked to Bryan."

"That's when you decided to come see me?"

"Yes. I didn't know where you were then, but Bryan said you told him that morning?"

"Yeah. I did."

"I'm so glad you did. I missed you, Anna. After Bryan told me where you were, I knew I had to come get you. I was gonna go to Warrick's and swap cars and get my Truck, but Bryan told me to take Cathy's truck and go. I got here earlier today and came straight to your sister's house. I'm fine though." I got my phone out of the cup holder in the console and handed it to Anna. "Could you dial my parents' phone number? I don't really feel like wrecking Cathy's truck." Anna took the phone from me and dialed the number and handed it back to me.

"Nicky! Nicky! Nicky!"

I smiled when I heard my sister answer the phone. "Jillian, Jillian, Jillian. Gotta love caller ID."

"Mom! It's Nicky!" I could hear voices in the background as my sister continued to yell to whoever was in the room that I was on the phone. "Little brother! God, it's been weeks since we talked. How are you? You sound okay on the phone. How's work? Everything alright?"

"It's been two weeks at the most since I talked to you and I'm fine. Work is fine and I have a surprise. That's why I'm calling."

"Mom! Nicky's got a surprise." I heard the same indistinct sounds in the background. "No, he hasn't said what it is yet."

"Jilly?" She didn't hear me. "Jillian?" I shook my head and looked at Anna, "Are you sure you want to meet my family?"

Anna laughed, "Of course I do."

"Was that a woman? Nick? Mom, he's got a woman with him."

I rolled my eyes and yawned again, "Jillian!"

"Mom wants to know what your surprise is. Did you get married? Nick, if you got married..."

I interrupted my sister, "No, I didn't get married. Jilly, put mom or dad on the phone, please?"

"Mom! Nick wants to talk to you." I heard her put the phone down, "I think he got married. He's got a woman with him."

"He better not have! I'll tan his hide." My mother picked the phone up, "Nicholas Parker Stokes, you better have not gotten married. You know how much that'd disappoint me and your father so you better not have."

"Mom!"

"Nicholas, I mean it. Did you get married? Is that why you're calling? I understand you're a grown man and you're living on your own now but you know how your father and I feel about that. Your lady friend isn't in a family way is she?"

"No! Mom, no." I shook my head and exhaled sharply, "I didn't get married and Anna is not pregnant." I glanced over at Anna as she put her hand across her face to hide her laughs. "I can see Jilly hasn't changed much. I told her I had a surprise and she heard Anna and well, you know how her imagination is. That's not the surprise. The surprise is I have Anna with me and we're in Oklahoma headed south. I thought we'd stop by before we went back to Vegas. I want you to meet Anna. She's special to me." I looked over at Anna, "Very special."

"Jillian, he didn't get married. I told you Nick would never do that to me." Jillian had a reply back to my mother, but I didn't hear it. "What are you doing in Oklahoma?"

"Mom, it's a long story. A really long story."

"Oh, it'll be so good to see you and I would love to meet your special lady friend since you talk about her a lot. Are you coming tonight?"

"No, no. We're going to stop in a little bit and get a couple of hotel rooms or something. I'm exhausted from being up so long and we'll be there tomorrow if that's okay with you and dad. I wanted to call first before we just showed up."

"I'm so excited, Nicholas. Your father isn't inside. He's out with Ryan dealing with the horses. I'll tell him when I see him and I'll make sure I tell Allison so she can be here with her husband and the kids tomorrow when you get here and I'm sure Tyler and Marissa as well as Jillian and Ryan will be here, too. Tyler's working tonight so he'll be off tomorrow. Do you have an idea when you'll be here? Should we make extra for breakfast or what?"

"Uh, no. Not that early for sure. I've been up almost thirty five hours straight. I've got to get some sleep. We'll probably be there sometime after lunch. How about I call when we leave tomorrow morning? That work?"

"Great. I'll tell Ryan and your father when they get done with the horses then I'll call Allison and Tyler. Tell Anna I'm looking forward to meeting her and are you sure you're not married?"

I groaned, "Mom, I am not married. I promise. I'll see you and everyone else tomorrow."

"See you then and be careful driving. I love you, Nicholas."

"Love you too, Mom."

I shut the phone and dropped it in the cup holder again as Anna took my hand. "So your parents bother you like mine do about being the baby and not being married?"

"God, yes." I yawned again. "My sister Jillian got married to her husband, Ryan, right before I left Texas. My oldest sister Allison is married to her high school sweetheart, Chris, and they have two kids. Jason is the oldest and he's eight and his sister is Riley and she's four. My brother Tyler is next and his wife is Marissa and she's pregnant with their first and is due after Christmas, then Jilly then me."

"Nice to know your family bothers you as much as mine and what's this I heard about two hotel rooms?"

"You caught that, huh? My mother would get upset if she found out we slept together in the same room. I know she knows but she's of the 'don't ask, don't tell' mindset but no, we'll get one room. I want you with me in bed tonight. I don't like sleeping alone."

"That can be arranged. You sure you're okay to drive? Do we need to find that hotel room? Want me to drive?"

"We'll stop in the next town. I still need to find a store. Just talk to me. You said you heard a song on the radio that reminded you of your sister? What was it?" I reached over and picked up a bottle of water and took a drink.

Anna smiled, "The song was 'Bitch' by Meredith Brooks."

I snotted water all over the dashboard, "Next time, warn me so I don't flood Cathy's truck on dry land."

"Sorry about that." Anna found a napkin and handed it to me. "Probably shouldn't have said that then but it is true."

We talked for about another half an hour, catching up on what happened while we were apart. Anna apologized a dozen more times. Finally after driving a total of about two hours south and getting about four hours away from Dallas, I couldn't do it anymore. I had to stop.

After passing a Wal-Mart and decided against going tonight, Anna and I found a hotel not too far away from the store and checked in. Anna and I got in the shower together as soon as we got in the room and stayed in the hot water together far too long. We got out and I realized I didn't have anything to sleep in. I didn't pack anything before I left Vegas. I had a clean button shirt in my Tahoe, but that was in Vegas. "Anna, do you have a spare t-shirt or something? I don't have anything to sleep in. Cathy had a dry cleaning bag in the cargo hold with some shirts of Bryan's so I can wear one of those tomorrow and we can stop by Wal-Mart for some other stuff I need, but I have nothing else to sleep in."

She came out and put her bag on the bed, "I should but..."

"But what?"

Anna pulled a shirt out, "How do you feel about Hello Kitty?" She held out a grey shirt with the cartoon character on it. "It's all I have that'll fit you. It was Sam's."

I mentally debated about the shirt and decided that the Hello Kitty shirt was better than nothing. "Just remember one thing."

"What's that?"

"You just bear in mind what I do for a living. This gets out and I can make it look like an accident." The shirt was about a size smaller than the t-shirts I normally slept in but it was better than sleeping in the undershirt I had on for nearly two days.

Anna laughed and tossed me the shirt. I put it on and turned around. She had picked up my phone and snapped a picture of me wearing her Hello Kitty shirt. "Gotcha even though I know you're gonna delete that."

I playfully swatted at her as she tossed the phone back to me while she went back to the bathroom. I stretched out on the bed while she used the hotel blow dryer to dry her hair. I closed my eyes while she was doing that and was about half asleep when she came out, still wrapped in a towel. "Sleeping yet?" She finished getting dressed and got in bed beside me. "Now that is sexy. My man in my Hello Kitty shirt. You are totally rocking that one, too."

"Very funny." I yawned again, "And no, not yet." Anna scooted in close to me and I put my arms around her and kissed the back of her shoulder. "I don't want to go to sleep. What if I wake up tomorrow and you're gone? I don't want to close my eyes because what if you leave me again? I'm afraid to keep them open because I can't stand to watch you walk away from me. I couldn't do it a second time."

Anna turned over to face me and brought her hand to my cheek. "I'm not going anywhere again. Ever. Anywhere I go, you're coming with me." She reached over and turned on the table light so I could see her face. "You're stuck with me. I'll be here tomorrow when you wake up and every day after that until you get tired of me and tell me to get bent." She kissed me softly before she went to lie back down.

I moved in closer and kissed her. Anna put her arms around me and pulled me on top of her. I sat up and pulled her up with me, pulling the t-shirt off of her as she pulled my Hello Kitty shirt off of me as we made love again.

Anna stayed in my arms after we finished. She adjusted herself in bed to make herself more comfortable and the pendant from her necklace fell on my arm. I picked it up and put it in the center of her neck. She looked up at me. "Just promise me one thing?"

"Anything."

"Don't ever leave me either."

"Remember tonight for it is the beginning of always." I kissed Anna again. "I won't leave you. You and I were meant to be. Period. The End. Cue happy ending music." I reached over her and turned the light off, kissing her again as I went to lie back down next to her and we both fell into a deep sleep.

**A/N: So Nicky and Anna are back together again. What I wouldn't give to be Anna right now. Not necessarily the getting shot part, but well, you read it. I'm sure you can figure out what part I mean. bg**

**Random story related factoid - this was the first chapter I wrote of this story. The paragraph that starts with,** _**"Yeah, I did." Anna started to walk away, but I stopped her…"** _ **was the first paragraph I wrote of this story. I was on a really, really boring conference call and started daydreaming and next thing you know, there's my first paragraph. I built it all from there.**

**Insert obligatory begging for reviews line here. You can leave reviews for me about this chapter while I wipe the drool off of my keyboard.**


	21. Home

**Chapter 21 – Home**

The sunlight was peeking through the fabric of the hotel curtains, reluctantly forcing me to wake up. I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands as I tried to force my eyes to stay open. It seemed like just minutes ago, I was falling asleep with Anna right beside me and now, the sun was demanding that we wake up. "Anna?" When she didn't respond, I reached over in bed for her and she wasn't there. I sat up and looked around the hotel room trying to find her. "Anna?" I threw the covers off of me and got up to check the bathroom. "Anna?" I felt my heart drop into my stomach again at the realization that what happened yesterday was all just a really cruel dream. "Anna?" I looked around the room checking to see if her stuff was here. Her bag that she brought in was still on the floor. "No, Anna. I just got you back." I sat back down on the bed and pulled on a pair of shorts and put on a tank top and got ready to go find her once again when I heard the mechanical lock on the hotel room door open and Anna walked in. "Anna!" I pulled her into a hug, causing her to drop what it was she was holding but I didn't care.

Anna groaned when I pulled her in tightly. She started waving her hands around behind my back, "Air. Air. Nicky, I need air."

"Sorry." I loosened my grip on her and kissed her before hugging her tightly a second time. "I thought you were gone. Again." I let her go and she looked up at me. "I was worried that yesterday was nothing more than a really cruel joke."

"I went to the Coke machines." Anna bent down and picked up a bottle of Mountain Dew that she had brought in and dropped when I hugged her. "I was thirsty. I went to the vending machine down the hall and got us both one." She handed me the other bottle she was holding. "Guess I need to let mine de-fizz for a while. Sorry, Nicky. I didn't mean to get you all worked up, but you were asleep. I didn't want to wake you up to let you know I was gonna go get us a couple of drinks. I'm sorry. I should have left a...ooohhh...le Damn. Touché." Anna stopped and winced when she realized what she was about to say. "I see where you're coming from. Point taken. I'm sorry. Next time, I'll wake you up or just force you to go with me. I'm sorry." Anna put the other bottle on the dresser in the room and jumped up at me, putting her arms around my neck. I caught her as she put her legs around my waist, causing me to take a step back to keep from losing my balance. Anna kissed me again and softly whispered to me, "I'm sorry." She leaned back long enough to kiss me before continuing. "I told you I'm not going anywhere unless you're with me and I mean that. I know I've got a lot of making up to do before you believe me. I promise I will never leave you again. I want you always constantly no matter what. I know that being without you is something that I could never do again." Anna kissed me again as I took a step back before sitting on the bed, causing her to laugh at me when I dramatically fell back. "And a good morning to you, too."

I sat up, bringing Anna up with me so she could sit beside me on the bed. "I believe you. Still not used to it. That's all." Anna had pulled her hair back using a clip but when I caught her after she jumped at me, my hand hit the clip causing it to dislodge. Most of her hair fell down out of the clip but it was still in her hair holding some of it back behind her head. I tucked a loose strand behind her ear. "I don't like waking up alone especially after the past day we've had after waiting so long. I don't want it to end. I don't want to ever wake up again and not know where you are."

Anna climbed into my lap and smiled, "It won't and I'm not going anywhere without you. Feel free to put a GPS collar on me if you want." She loosened her grip on my neck as she leaned back so she could see me. "You're taking me home where I belong. I am here to love you, to hold you in my arms and to be with you. I am here because there is no other place I want to be." She stopped so she could kiss me. "I plan on marrying you. Course, this all rides on whether your family likes me or not and seeing the stomping my Hogs did to your Horns last year..."

I fell back on the bed a second time, pulling Anna with me. "I love you so they'll love you, even if Texas did deserve that stomping." Anna moved off of me and was lying on her back. I propped myself up on my elbow and put my right hand on her cheek. "I promise. They'll love you. Then we'll be on our way back home and I'll get you a huge, embarrassing ring and get on one knee and ask you all proper to marry me." I let myself fall back on the bed next to Anna, still keeping my right hand across her middle.

"You already did ask me and it was proper in my book and I believe I said yes."

"I know but I'm old fashioned I guess. You need a ring. I want you to have one." I looked around Anna so I could see the alarm clock on the table. "We better get up." I kissed Anna as I propped myself up again. "If we're not in Texas soon, Jilly is liable to drive up this way and find us and drag us all the way back and I still need to go to Wal-Mart. Shall we?" I got off the bed and stood up and held my hand out. Anna took it and after I put on another shirt over the one I was wearing, I led her outside so we could go before we came back to shower before we left.

About an hour later, we were back in the room after I got what I needed from Wal-Mart. I left what I bought on the bed as I followed Anna to the bathroom so we could take a shower before we left the hotel.

Anna and I took our time in the shower. Almost another hour later, we finally got out and she left the bathroom to get her hair brush. I stayed in the tub as I dried myself off before I stepped out into the area where the sink and counter were. I looked up and Anna had written  _'I love you, Nicky'_ in the steam on the mirror and had drawn a smiley face under it. When I got to the living area of the room, Anna already had on her bra and panties and was sitting on the floor as she was looking through her bag for clothes. I got my underwear on and tore the tag off of the shorts I had just bought. I put my shorts on and snuck up behind her and kissed her on the back of her shoulder. "I love you, too."

"You better." Anna got up and kissed me again before she threw her tank top on the bed and put her shorts on as she went back to the bathroom to dry her hair.

After she was done, I was helping Anna get the rest of our stuff packed when my phone rang. "Probably my sister." Anna tossed my phone to me and sure enough, it was Jillian. I opened the phone to answer it and she didn't even give me a chance to say hello before she asked where we were. Anna laughed as she threw her bag on the bed and went to the bathroom to get her contact lens case and her shampoo so she could finish packing. "We're about to leave here in about ten minutes then we've got about four hours to drive."

My sister groaned, "Nicky, we were hoping you'd be on your way by now. We're ready to meet Miss Anna."

"Gee." I tossed the rest of Anna's stuff in her bag and zipped it. "Love you, too, Jilly. Haven't seen you since Christmas and all you're worried about is meeting Anna. Maybe I'll just send Anna to Texas and catch a bus home."

"Ooh, that'd work. Just leave your phone with her so I can give her directions on how to get here. When are you sending Anna? Will she have to take you to the bus station first or can you walk?"

Anna opened the door to the room and held it open as I looked around once more, making sure we didn't forget anything. "We are leaving now." I put my hand on Anna's back as we walked outside into the bright sun. "We've got to check out then we're southbound for Dallas and no, I'm still not married."

"So you're not catching a bus? You're coming with Anna?"

I rolled my eyes, "Goodbye, Jillian. Tell mom and dad we'll be there in time for a late lunch. Love you, sissy."

"Love you too, little brother."

I put the phone in my pocket as I dug out Cathy's keys to unlock the truck. Anna put her stuff in the back and I handed her the bag I had with the stuff I bought earlier in it so she could put it in on top the rest. I went around her as I opened the passenger's door for her. "So, the bus station is where exactly and why are you taking a bus and sending me to Texas?"

I kissed Anna before she sat down. I shut the door and got in on the driver's side. "My sister. She made a comment about making sure you were coming even if I wasn't. She told me to take a bus to Vegas and send you to Texas." I pulled around the lobby of the hotel and checked out. I watched Anna through the window as she answered my phone. Judging by the smile on her face, it was probably Bryan. The hotel clerk handed me my receipt and I thanked her and went back to the car.

"Yeah, we're headed to Texas now. Nick thinks it's proper that they meet his fiancé and all." Anna was quiet as the caller spoke. "Bryan, what do you think I said?" She listened as Bryan spoke again. "Yeah, I am too and yes, you'll be my honorary maid of honor right next to Cathy who will be my real maid of honor unless you want me to put you in a dress." Anna started laughing. "Bryan wants to know if he has to wear a dress and if he does, he wants us to know it better be floor length. He's not shaving."

I had to laugh at that thought. "Tell him we'll get to that point when we get back to Vegas."

Anna and Bryan spoke for about half an hour longer. It was nice to have the old Anna back. As I listened to her end of the conversation, she held the phone with her right hand as her left hand was holding on to my right hand. She handed me the phone so I could tell Bryan we'd be back in a few days with Cathy's truck. Anna took the phone back and told Bryan that they could use her Xterra if they needed it. After promising we wouldn't get married in Texas, she ended the phone call and said she'd call when we got ready to leave Texas. "Does your family know about the last six weeks? Do they know what happened? I mean, did you tell them I left?"

I picked up the bottle of Mountain Dew and took a drink before I answered Anna. "They know I got hurt and you got shot obviously but they don't know the real reason you left. I said you took some time off from work to visit your family and left it at that. Technically it wasn't a lie."

"Just making sure our stories match before we get down there. So your family wants to meet me, huh?"

"Yeah. They have ever since I first told them about you ever since I mentioned you back in February after you treated me." I looked over at Anna. She had her head down. "What?" She still didn't look up. "Anna? What?"

"Are you mad at me?" She finally raised her head up. "You have every right to be."

"Wow. That one caught me off guard." I didn't respond right away. I needed a moment to think about how to answer her. "Hon, I wanted to be mad at you when I drove out here. I tried to be and I planned on being mad at you, but when your sister told me where you were and when I saw you for the first time, I, well, I couldn't be. Lord knows I had every right to be mad but just watching you for the time I did before I snapped that twig, I couldn't be mad at you no matter how hard I tried."

"I see. I'm sorry. I know I've said it a hundred times and I am sorry. The most maddening decisions are the ones that seemed right at the time and at the time I left, it seemed right. I realized after I got to my sister's that I made a mistake but I was afraid."

I held onto Anna's hand a bit tighter when she finished. "Of Renee?"

Anna shook her head, "No, well, a little bit but that's not what I was afraid of."

"Then what were you afraid of?"

Anna put her head back down. "I was afraid of coming back to Vegas. I was afraid of what would happen when I saw you again. I make mistakes and they've been big ones, but I never make them twice and I was scared about what would happen because I screwed up."

I was floored, "You were afraid of me? Why? Did you think I'd hurt you or something?"

"Oh, God no. No, no. Nicky, no. Nothing like that. No, I could never think that about you. You can't even kill a spider." Anna folded one of her legs up underneath her and turned in the seat where she could look at me. She laid her head on the headrest and put her sunglasses on top of her head so she could see me better. "I was afraid of seeing you again because I didn't think I could handle what I thought you'd say to me because I left."

"And you thought I'd say what?"

"Eff off?"

I had to smile at Anna's interjected humor in the situation we were in. "I wouldn't have said that. Anna, I wanted to be mad at you but you know that. The first couple weeks after you left, I was a mess. I stayed off work the first week then the second week I went back to work. Renee found me again and it almost came to blows but Warrick found me in time and took me home. I was drunk off my ass and he saved me from screwing up royally and I was in a really dark spot in my life by that time. I was heading downhill and heading downhill fast and it took him stepping in to cut me off at the pass but now that you're back, I'm just...happy. I've never felt as much happiness before. I'm exactly where I want to be now that you're here with me."

"Right where I belong. You're the one thing about my life that is right and I can't believe how close I came to screwing that up." Anna didn't say anything after she trailed off. I noticed that was when she reached up to cover her face in order to catch the tears. "You don't know how sorry I am for everything. There's only so many times I can bang my head against a wall before I realize it hurts. At times like that, it'd be great to know what I thought I was doing."

"Anna, you don't have to apologize. That's all in the past. All of it. I told you earlier I'm not mad at you. You did what you thought was best"

Anna sniffled in between tears, "I did but the pain I caused you. I..."

I cut her off, "You made it all better when I saw you for the first time and erased it completely when you said you'd marry me."

Anna sniffled, "Seriously?"

I couldn't take my eyes off the road and instead, tightened my grip on Anna's hand and kissed the top of it. "Yes. Seriously. One hundred percent seriously. I love you. That's all that matters in my book."

The next two hours of the trip flew by as Anna and I caught each other up on what we missed. I was in the process of filling her in on what happened to Renee the last time I saw her when Anna interrupted, "And you just let her go? You had the charges dropped?"

"You think I was wrong in having the charges against Renee dropped?"

Anna shook her head, "No, I think you did the right thing actually. If I was you, I'd have let her go especially after what happened in the hospital room. How bad was she hurt?"

"Pretty bad. She got the stuffing beat out of her. I just felt sorry for her I guess, but mostly it was because I knew that if you were here, you'd want me to do the right thing. Even if I was an ass and had Renee thrown in jail for assault, it wouldn't have changed anything. Nigel is still dead. You still got shot and I still have you to thank for saving my life." I saw out of the corner of my eye that when I said Nigel's name, Anna tensed up. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said…"

"No, no. You have nothing to be sorry about. I just, well, you remember the nightmares and the night terrors? It's just when you said his name, that was the first time that anyone has said it that I didn't feel a sense of panic or fear. All the other times after I heard his name or thought about him or that look he gave me right before I, uh..." Anna trailed off. "Right before I shot him, I couldn't handle the fear that followed those thoughts or hearing his name, but now, nothing. I didn't feel anything. But on the Renee thing, you're right. I would have wanted you to let her go. It wouldn't have helped anything and it'd just be one more reason that I'd be afraid to be out. She did leave Vegas, didn't she?"

"As far as I know she did. One of the other detectives stopped by her hospital room the next day after I processed her to drop off the final paperwork showing the charges against her were dropped. He told me that when he stopped by, she was packing up and heading to the airport as soon as her taxi got to the hospital. He gave her a ride to the airport since the rental car she got was still in evidence from when she got shot. He didn't watch her get on the plane, but I'm sure she's gone."

Anna sighed, "Good. One less thing I have to worry about when we get back to our home." Anna smiled. "Our home. I like the sound of that.

After another hour of talking and laughing, we were about five minutes away from the road to take us to my parents' house when my phone rang once again. I let Anna answer it since I was exiting off the freeway and trying to maneuver over into the lane I needed to get off of the service road. "Your sister wants to know where we are."

I thought I'd play a joke on her, "Tell her we're still in Oklahoma."

I listened and laughed when Anna told Jillian we were still in Oklahoma. I motioned for Anna to give me the phone when I heard Jillian start shrieking on the phone. "Jillian, stop." I held the phone to my ear as I turned onto the street that my parents lived on. "Jilly?"

"Nicholas Stokes! You promised that you'd be here today. You promised you'd bring Anna. Now what are you doing in Oklahoma?"

"Jilly…"

"Nicholas, I'm serious. Why are y…"

I interrupted her, "Jilly." After reaching my parents' house, I pulled in the driveway and parked under an oak tree to the side of their yard. "Would you listen to me?"

"What?"

"Look out the window." I shook my head and laughed as I undid my seatbelt. I saw Anna suppress a laugh as she undid hers and opened the door to Cathy's 4Runner to get out.

"I see…Nicky!" Jillian dropped the phone as her hands let go of the mini blinds. A few moments later, she came rushing out of the house and down the porch steps. "Anna!"

My sister ran right by me and went straight to Anna. "Finally! I get to meet you." She pulled Anna into a bear hug. "Finally. How are you?"

"Be a lot better if I could breathe."

"Huh?" Jillian realized she had a death grip on Anna. "Sorry."

Anna shook her head, "I see where Nick gets that from."

I held my arms out, expecting a hug from my sister but she barely paid me any attention. "Oh, Nick. Hi." Jillian turned her attention back to Anna. "It's about time. So who had the idea that it was somehow funny to tell me that you were still in Oklahoma?"

Anna smiled, "Nick's."

Jillian's only response was to frog me hard in the shoulder, "Ass!"

"Language, Jillian. There are youngsters present." My mother followed the same path that my sister took, but was more reserved. "Nicholas, my son." My mother reached out for me and pulled me into a hug. "I've missed you so much. How are you?"

I returned the hug, "Well, fine now that one member of my family has paid attention to me. Jillian ran right by me, completely ignoring me and about killed Anna in a death grip."

My mother released her hold on me after she kissed me on the cheek, "Welcome home, Nicholas." She turned her attention to Anna. Jillian had a hold of one of Anna's hands. "And this is your special someone?"

"Yes." I playfully shoved Jillian away from Anna. Jillian retaliated by trying to frog me again, but I ducked and held her fist in my hand. "Anna, this is my mother, Patricia. Mom, this is Anna Gigandet, my fiancé."

Jillian and my mother both gasped. Jillian pulled her fist out of my hand and frogged me again, "Fiancé? Nick!"

"I told you I didn't get married." I hit my sister in the shoulder just as she hit me. "You never listen."

"Nicholas! Don't hit your sister." My mother pulled Anna and me into a hug with Jillian standing behind us. "Congratulations to you both." My mother let me go, but held on to Anna, "Welcome to the family, Anna."


	22. Pink Flamingo Kind of Love

**Chapter 22 - Pink Flamingo Kind of Love**

"Engaged. My little brother is engaged. It's about time." Jillian tried to frog me again but I moved out of the way and hit her back. "Ouch!"

"Nicholas, do not hit your sister." My mother stood between Jilly and me to keep us from goofing off any further. "Congratulations, son."

"Engaged and managed to move out of the way and get mom to scold you for hitting a girl. I am proud of you, little brother. I see I have taught you well."

"Jillian, do not taunt your brother."

It was my turn to gloat at my mother scolding my sister, "Ha."

Jillian smiled, "It's about time, Nick. It's about time."

I acted like I was hurt, "I'm feeling the love here. You're acting like I'm the old maid here with twenty cats."

"And I just have one cat." Anna smiled, "So he'd need nineteen more."

I reached for Anna and put my arm around her waist and kissed the side of her neck, "I'm getting picked on by everyone. I'm really feeling the love."

"Nicholas."

I turned around to see my father coming towards us, "Dad." Anna stepped back and he hugged me tightly just as my mother did.

"Nicholas, how are you?"

"Dad, Nick's engaged." Jillian started to smile. "Finally."

"Well." My father saw Anna who was standing next to me. She smiled and reached for my hand as my father looked at both of us in a way that I couldn't quite figure out what he was thinking. "And this is..."

"Oh, right." I pushed Anna in front of me. "This is my fiancé, Anna Gigandet. Anna, this is my father, William Stokes."

"Nice to finally meet most of the family at least. Nick has spoken highly of you all."

Jillian laughed. "Nick? He can be nice?"

My father ignored my sister and didn't give Anna a chance to say anything as he hugged her, "Nice to finally see my son so happy. Congratulations to you both."

"Thank you." If Anna was nervous, she didn't let on. She was fitting in fine with my family.

"Come inside out of the heat." My mother turned to walk back inside with the rest of us following.

"Oh, not us. I'm taking Anna to meet Allison and Marissa. We're gonna grab lunch." Jillian reached for Anna and yanked her closer, causing Anna to stumble as she triped over my foot. "We'll be back in time for supper. This is a girls' only thing."

"Jilly, we just got here. Can't this wait? You're not letting me keep her and introduce her to the family. Allison and Marissa can't come here? What about Tyler and Ryan and Riley and Jason?"

"Everyone else will be here for supper later on. This is a girls' day out thing. We have to get to know our future sister in law. We did the same thing with Marissa. Trust me." Jillian pulled Anna away from me as they started toward Jillian's Toyota Camry. "I'll bring her back in one piece in time for supper. I promise."

I watched as Anna cast a glance over her shoulder at me as Jillian let go of Anna's hand long enough to leave her on the passenger's side of the car. Anna blew a kiss at me as she got in and I waved as they drove off. "My fiancé has been kidnapped."

"By your sister. She'll be fine, son."

My father was failing to see my point. I wasn't worried that Anna was with my sisters. I was worried that Anna was with Jillian alone and I wasn't there to police what she told Anna. "Dad." My father opened the door and stepped inside with my mother and me following him in. "Anna has been kidnapped by Jillian...By my sister Jillian and you're saying she'll be fine?"

My father glanced out the window as Jillian took off with Anna, "Point taken. We'll pay for any therapy Anna may need. Come on in and sit down. Tell your mother and me all about Anna and about your engagement. This was quite sudden. Last time we spoke, I knew nothing of this."

My father and mother sat down on the couch as I took one of the recliners. I knew what he was trying to ask and I was trying to be as diplomatic as possible. "Anna and I have been together since February when she treated me at that crime scene. It hasn't even been a year yet, but I know in my heart that this is what I want to do. This is the right choice for us. You and mom both know that we've been through a lot in that time and I can't imagine my life without her." I stopped as I knew what my dad was trying to ask as I continued to try to find a way to answer his question that he didn't want to ask. "I know we haven't been together that long but I love her. Anna almost died on me twice. I was holding her in my arms and was watching her slip away and then once again at the hospital and after that, I knew that I didn't want to lose her again. I knew then I couldn't lose her." I looked up at my parents, "I know it may seem quick and you have your reservations, and that's fine. I don't expect you to understand what Anna and I have gone through but I want to marry her. If you want to know anything about her, ask. I'll tell you or if Jilly brings her back in one piece, you can both ask her but I love her. I love that woman and would do any thing for her and will do my best to make her as happy as I can make her. Anna is who I want to be with."

"Nick, I'm not planning on giving you the same lectures that I gave your sisters. I don't need to bring Anna in here and find out what her intentions are. I only got a chance to spend a little bit of time with her before your sister took off with her, but I could tell that you love her and she loves you. I'm just curious about one thing and I just have one question. Does Anna make you happy?"

"Mom, Dad..." I closed my eyes and sighed, hoping that I could put in to words what I knew I felt in my heart. "I love Anna. Anna loves me as much as I love her and that's not gonna change. I have never felt the emotions or feelings I feel for Anna with anyone else. I found the person I'm gonna marry and spend the rest of my life with. Anna and I are happy."

"Nick, that's…" My father was interrupted by someone yelling from the front of the house, "We're back here."

"Mr. Stokes, the gate on the south end of the property is loose again."

"It's a never ending storm around here. On my way." My father stood up, "Oh, Brandon, this is my son, Nicholas. He's here from Las Vegas with his fiancé. Nicholas, this is Brandon Ware. He helps us out with the horses."

I stood up and shook his hand, "Nice to meet you."

"Brandon…" Ryan came in the room and didn't notice that I was here. He was explaining in greater detail to my father the problem Brandon had found with the fence. When he finally did notice I was in the room, he forgot what he was trying to tell my father, "Nick! What are you doing here? Jillian didn't tell me you were coming."

"Now that's a shock. I called last night and said I was coming from Arkansas with Anna." As I hoped none of my ribs were broken when Ryan let me go out of his massive hug, I had forgotten how people in Texas love to hug. "I'm surprised Jillian could keep her mouth shut. That's never been one of her strong suits."

"Anna? Who's Anna?" Ryan stopped, "Oh wait, Jilly told me about Anna. She's the one you got married to?"

"Not quite." Shaking my head, I continued, "We're not married yet. Anna is my fiancé. Your wife kidnapped her to meet Allison and Marissa."

Ryan winced, "Lord, I hope she goes easy on your gal there. I'd stay and chat but I'm headed out with Brandon and your father to fix that fence. You coming?"

My mother didn't give me a chance to answer, "No, I'd like for Nicholas to stay with me for a little bit. I haven't gotten a chance to ask him all the questions that a mother needs to ask her son about his upcoming wedding. I'll send him along when we're done talking." She turned to face me, "Stay here."

"Yes, ma'am." Even though I was old enough to live on my own, I still treated my mother with the respect she and my father hammered into my head constantly since I was a child.

I watched as they went towards the back of the house, leaving me alone in peace and quiet for the first time since we got here. As I waited on my mother to get back, I wished I would have given Anna my phone to keep track of her or so she could call if she needed an escape route. I pulled mine out of my pocket and dialed Jillian's number. Not expecting Jillian to actually answer the phone, I was pleasantly surprised when she did. "Where's Anna?"

Jillian laughed, "She's here. She's fine. We're waiting on our food to be brought out. Marissa just got here."

"Prove to me she's still alive."

"Nick."

"Jillian, prove to me Anna is still alive and is not being held against her will."

I heard Jillian hand the phone across the table to Anna. "He thinks you're dead."

"Nicky?"

"You are alive and you sound unharmed. Good."

Anna laughed, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You don't know Jillian as well as I do just yet. So you're fine? Not being held against your will?"

"No. I'm fine and they're even letting me have bathroom breaks and everything. We're here in town and are about to eat then we'll be back. Your sisters are both being nice to me. No Stokes family hazing."

"Yet!" I heard Jillian's voice in the background. "Tell Nick you have to go. We've got some more talking to do."

"Just make sure my sisters and sister in law have you back here in one piece, please?"

Anna said they'd be back in a little bit and hung up after telling me she loved me, making Jillian act like a school girl in the background.

I was putting my phone back in my pocket when my mother came in. "So." She sat down and stared at me after Brandon, Ryan and my dad left. "I get you all to myself for a minute. When's the wedding? Tell me all the details."

I laughed, "Mom, we haven't gotten that far yet. I don't even have a ring yet."

"You asked Anna to marry you and you don't even have a ring for her? Nicholas, I taught you better than that."

"Mom, I know. It was kinda sudden. I didn't plan it. It just happened. I was on my way to get Anna from Arkansas and bring her back home and when I saw her and started to leave, I asked her to marry me and she said yes."

"I know it's none of my business, but I have to ask since I'm your mother. Were you the reason Anna was in Arkansas? Did you have a fight?"

"No, no. Nothing like that. Anna and I didn't have a fight." I knew there was no way out of this with my mother and tried as best as I could to give her the abbreviated version of what happened between Anna and me after Renee and Nigel entered our lives and almost destroyed them. "After Anna got out of the hospital, she was having some problems adjusting to her life in Vegas and went to visit her sister in Arkansas until things settled down back in Vegas. I came to get her to bring her back and when we were getting ready to leave Arkansas and her sister's house, it hit me then how much I loved her and I wanted to marry her, so I asked her then and she said yes. When we get back to Vegas, I'll get her a ring then. Anna said she doesn't need one but I want her to have one. She means that much to me."

"Like I said, I wasn't trying to pry but I had to know. So other than the ring, everything is okay? You and Anna are fine?"

"Yes. Of course we are. Why?"

"No reason, but I was hoping you'd say that. Wait here." My mother stood up and left the room, leaving me to wonder where she was going and what she was hoping I'd say to her.

As I waited on her to come back, I started looking at the wall in the den. Ever since I was little, the south wall in this room was filled with photos of my family. Portraits of our family graced one portion of the wall with pictures of my siblings and me during varying stages of our lives on the other areas. My sisters were all cheerleaders in school and Tyler and I were on the football team. My sisters' cheerleading photos were in one area with my brother's and my football pictures under them. As my sisters and brother got married, wedding pictures started to out number the high school pictures. My sister's wedding photo was on top followed by Tyler's and then Jillian's. Baby photos of Jason and Riley were under Allison's wedding photos. My mother had left room under Jillian's wedding photos and Tyler's wedding photos for grandchildren. When I got to the pictures I sent my parents of Anna and me, my mother had left room for our wedding photos and our future children. I smiled to myself as I sat back down to wait on my mother.

"I was waiting on a time to do this." My mother came back in and caught me looking at the memory wall. "I do hope that you took note of the room I left for grandchildren for you and Anna. Lots of grandchildren."

"Let's get to the wedding first then Anna and I will talk about children." I looked over as my mother came back in the room and sat down on the couch next to me. "And waiting to do what?"

My mother had something in her hand but kept it hidden where I couldn't see it, "You know where the Parker came from in your name, right?"

I had been told the story before. My brother's name was my dad's mother's maiden name. For me, Parker was my mother's maiden name. It was requested of my grandmother to name me after my mother's maiden name. "Grandma's idea to use your maiden name, right?"

"Yes. The Parker in your name is my maiden name. When you were born, she was there. She wanted to be there when you were born. She said you were special and asked I name you Parker."

"You've told me this but what does it have to do with Anna?"

My mother handed me a small box. "This is why. Open it."

I took the box from her and opened it. "Grandma Parker's wedding set?" I felt my breath catch as I looked at the ring. "Mom, oh. Wow."

My mother motioned for me to give her the ring back. "She wanted you to have it. That's why we named you Parker. On the day you were born, she said you were going to be special. Right after that, she handed your father that ring and told us to give it to you when you found the right girl." My mother took the ring out of the box and put it on her ring finger. "Won't fit. Give this to Anna. My mother made us promise to give it to you when you found someone and it looks like Anna is that someone. Tyler got your father's mother's ring. You get mine."

My mother handed the ring back to me and I put it on my pinky finger. I couldn't even get the tiny ring over my first knuckle. The ring that my mother gave me was gorgeous. Anna had small hands and as I looked at it, I was thinking it'd fit just as it is and I wouldn't need to get it stretched. I knew Anna would love it. It was a beautiful ring made of white gold and had an emerald-cut center diamond flanked by smaller round diamonds down both sides of the band and two baguette diamonds at the top on either side of the center stone. "Mom, are you sure?"

"Yes. My mother made us promise that you'd get this. Give it to Anna, Nicholas. She makes you happy and that's all the proof I need. Just take care of her. She will be good to you. I know this."

I spent the next hour or so talking to my mother before my father came back in. About half an hour after he came back in from fixing the fence, Anna came in with Jillian, Marissa and Allison. We spent the next couple hours talking and everyone was questioning Anna. I asked where Tyler was and Marissa said he'd be by in a little bit as he was finishing up with work.

After Tyler got to the house, my mother assigned Tyler and me the task of barbequing for the whole family. I left Anna inside with my family as Tyler and I went out and started in. He caught me up on the goings on in Texas and I was filling him in on what was going on in Las Vegas when he interrupted, "So did mom give you the ring story like she did me?"

"Yeah, she did. Anna and I got engaged and it wasn't planned so I didn't even have one. Mom gave me Grandma Parker's ring and I plan on giving it to Anna soon. Not sure just when yet."

Tyler wanted more information, but everyone was coming outside as the aroma of freshly cooked meat started to filter through the house.

My parents added a large deck to the back of their house about the time I moved to Las Vegas. It was after we were all sat down outside that I understood why. As much as I loved working and living in Las Vegas, I missed being home with my family. Anna was fitting in well and everyone was enjoying getting to know her as we ate. Anna took great pride in rubbing in the fact that her Razorbacks stomped our Horns into the ground last season. Anna was laughing as my brother said that I wasn't allowed to marry someone who didn't appreciate the power of the Horn.

After we got finished eating, it was still light out and I wanted to show Anna the layout of my parents' property. "Alright, now if I can please have some time with Anna for a minute, we'll be back." I stood up and held my hand out and started to lead Anna down the deck and towards the barn. I heard my nephew behind me giggling and saying something about how it was gross that I was holding a girl's hand. I had to smile as I led her out towards the barn. "Finally. I get you away from everyone for a little bit." I kissed Anna and turned around to make sure we weren't being followed. Anna was already walking down the center aisle of the barn and she stopped at one of the stalls we had for our horses. "Pepper. This was my sister's horse when we were in high school."

"Did you have one?"

"Yep. The four of us all had our own horses when we were growing up. Pepper is Jillian's horse." We passed two more stalls on our way to Flash's stall. "Shadow is Tyler's horse and Allison had two horses. Sergeant was her first horse and she got a second horse, Jinga, after Sergeant died at the age of thirty seven. She got Jinga not too long ago to go with the horses her kids have. Allison's horses are at her house. My horse is down this way." I took Anna's hand and led her towards the back of the barn. "This is Flash. I got him when I was a senior in high school. Flash was four when we got him and wild as the day was long. The neighbor we got him from named him Flash because of the markings on his face." I reached out to pet the chestnut head that was intently watching Anna and me. "And you remember me even after all these years. I can't count the times I got bucked off of him trying to put a saddle on him but he finally tamed down and was a great companion. I just wish I lived closer so I could ride him more."

Anna stood up on one of the railings of the stall so she could see over. Flash bowed his ears back at the intrusion, but was soon nudging Anna's shoulder when she quit petting him to look at me, "You do know I've got room at my house, right? If you ever want to bring him home, we can load him up and take him home if you wanted to have him closer. He'd be good company for my older horse, Amy."

It never occurred to me that Anna had enough room at her house for my horse. One of her horses was about Flash's age and they would be perfect together. "That's a thought."

Anna wanted to go for a ride so I got a saddle out of the tack room for Flash and got another saddle for Pepper and led the two horses with Anna following me out of the barn. She got on Pepper as I got on Flash and told her to follow me.

I took her a few miles away from my parents' house and down a trail that wound up by a creek. "I used to come back here as a kid. Friend of mine lived back this way and that's why my parents bought this house was because of how quiet it was and because of the trails back here." Anna came to a stop next to me as Pepper bent down to eat some grass off to one side of the trail. "Really beautiful back here, but nothing could compare to the company I'm in."

"I do hope you mean me and not the horse."

I had to laugh, "Of course. Hop down."

Even though she didn't need the help, I helped Anna off of Pepper as I took Flash's reins and led the two horses over to a tree near the edge of the creek. They stayed busy grazing on grass and drinking water as I brought Anna in closer to me and hugged her, "I love you." I put my hand under her chin and brought her face up so I could kiss her.

"I love you, too, Nicky. So much."

I sat down on the grass next to the tree and pulled Anna in my lap. "Everything about you makes my heart stop and you made me realize that I've always been missing something I never even knew I wanted." I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her tightly. "I've already asked you to marry me, but I didn't have this." I started to get the ring of my grandmother's out of my pocket when Anna got up. She watching a hawk flying overhead and didn't notice what I was doing. When she finally did turn around, she gasped and saw what I was doing as I got down on one knee. "I'm doing this properly this time. I told you I was."

Anna stared at me, "Oh, God. Nick?"

"Meri-Anna Gabrielle Gigandet, you know how much I love you and though I've already asked you this before, I'm asking again the question I asked you earlier. Will you marry me?" As Anna started to nod her head as she started crying, I took her left hand and slid the ring on her ring finger, "It fits." I kissed the top of her hand as her right hand was covering her mouth which was open as she was staring wide eyed at my grandmother's ring on her finger. "This was my grandmother's ring. I've told you the story about my middle name, right?" Anna, still open mouthed, just nodded as she kept her eyes on the ring on her finger. "My mother told me that my grandmother wanted me to have this to give to the woman I loved." I pulled Anna's hand away from her mouth and made her zone back in so she could understand what I was trying to tell her. "And of course, that woman is you. So now that I have a ring, I get to ask you again. Will you marry me?"

Anna looked down at the ring again before she wiped tears out of her eyes, "My answer hasn't changed since the other day." Anna put her arms around my neck and kissed me, "Yes, yes, yes."

I returned the kiss and hugged her as one of the horses snorted behind us, causing me to start laughing when I smelled what triggered the snort, "I always imagined the moment would be just like this with two horses standing behind me, one farting and one snorting at us."

Anna laughed harder than I have heard her laugh in a long time but quieted down when she sat back in my lap and kissed me again as she hugged me, "I couldn't imagine any thing more perfect."

**A/N: And I'm finally done with jury duty. Yay! Now back to more important matters at hand like adding to this story. Back to Vegas they go in the next chapters.**


	23. I'll Just Hold On

**Chapter 23 – I'll Just Hold On**

"Promise me you won't get married in a drive through wedding chapel." My mother leaned forward and hugged me tightly. "And if you do, make sure you call us first. We'd like to be there since you're the last one to get married."

"Thanks for the gentle reminder, mom." Anna and I were getting ready to head back to Vegas. We had been at my parents' house for about a week before Grissom called while we were out here, inquiring as to when I'd be back. I took that as my unwritten cue to wrap up the family reunion and head home as there was only so long that he could stall Ecklie. "I promise that before Anna and I get married, we'll call."

"Nicholas, I don't mean as she's walking down the aisle. That doesn't count as before the wedding. I know how you think." My mother released me from her hug and put her right hand on my shoulder and squeezed as she shook her left index finger at me, "I mean it, Nicholas. If you get married and don't call your father and me in time for us to get there, just remember that you're not too old for a spanking young man. I will take you over my knee and don't think for a second you're too old. Even though you carry a gun, I'm still your mother."

Anna stifled a laugh behind me as my mother took her hand off my shoulder, "Mom, really. I'll call."

I turned to look at Anna to get her opinion. She let me know what it was loud and clear when she shook her head, "No way. My money's on mom."

"Thank you." My mother stepped back and hugged Anna, "Make sure he takes good care of you. If he doesn't, well, you have my number."

"Yes, ma'am. You have my word."

"I told you, call me mom." My mother released Anna from her hug. "Well, before I get too emotional, I had best let the two of you get going."

My father, sisters and brother had to return to work today. We had all said goodbye last night as we ate outside on my parents' deck. My brother cooked steaks for everyone and though we delayed as much as we could, when the sun went down and my niece and nephew had both fallen asleep, we knew we had to say goodbye. My father told Anna and me goodbye again this morning before he left for work, leaving my mother alone in the house with Anna and me. I came back to reality when I heard my mother sniff as she tried to cover up the fact she was crying. "Love you, mom."

"I love you too Nicholas and you as well, Anna. Welcome to the family."

Saying goodbye once again to my mother, I opened the door to Cathy's 4Runner and helped Anna in and after hugging my mother one last time, we finally left. I couldn't help but tear up when I saw my mother in the rearview mirror dabbing the corner of her eyes with her shirt. "We'll be back, Nicky. I know you don't want to leave."

I reached over for Anna's hand. "I know. It's just so damn hard sometimes. I knew I didn't want to stay in Texas after I graduated but I also knew that I'd miss being able to see my parents day in and day out." Kissing the top of Anna's hand, I saw the diamond in the engagement ring I had given to her catch the late morning sun. "And I have you to help me through it all."

We made it through Texas and most of New Mexico before I started to get tired. It was getting close to dark when we stopped in eastern Arizona for the night. It didn't take either of us long to fall asleep in the hotel bed.

I kept waking up during the night and was restless. I turned the TV on and kept the volume down low to keep from disturbing Anna as she slept. I passed the time switching between the Weather Channel and tracing imaginary patterns on Anna's back while she was sleeping on her stomach. I finally turned the TV off just before four.

The next morning, Anna volunteered to drive the rest of the way home so we'd be back in Vegas before dinner. Since I didn't sleep well, I gladly let Anna drive so I could nap on the way home. As we left the hotel, she had told Bryan that we were on our way home and he made us swear that we'd call him when we got closer to Summerlin.

After leaning the seat back, I fell asleep for a bit and when I woke up, Anna was singing along to a song that was playing from a CD she had in the radio. As she kept singing, it didn't take me long to realize what song it was. I smiled as I kept my eyes closed and listened to her singing it, with her completely unaware that I was even awake.

_"Now I have moved and I've kept on moving. Proved the points that needed proving. Lost some friends that needed losing, found others along the way. I've kissed the fellows and left them crying, stolen dreams yes there's no denying…"_

I kept my eyes closed as Anna stopped singing and hoped she'd continue. "I know you're awake."

"How'd you know?" I pulled on the lever to the back rest of the truck seat so I could sit up. "And where are we?"

"Almost to Vegas and you quit snoring. I knew you were awake then."

I rubbed my eyes and tried to stretch as much as I could in the seat. "I am beginning to love that song as much as you do."

Anna nodded, "I figured I'd wear you down eventually. We've got about an hour to go until we're back in Vegas. Bryan has already called wanting to know where we were. Cody has been asking for his Uncle Nicky all day long."

"He's a sweet kid." I wanted to ask Anna how she felt about kids, but wasn't quite sure how to approach it.

"Do you want kids? I mean, I guess I should have asked this long ago."

Feeling relieved that Anna beat me to it, I was glad she was taking the pressure off me, "My mother would love nothing else if we were to have lots of grandbabies but to answer your question, yeah. I do want kids eventually. Of course, this'll be after we're married and all. You?"

"My childhood was less than great. My parents were okay and before you ask, no they didn't leave me locked in a closet or anything but I always felt like I wasn't wanted. There's a significant age gap between Sam and me and I'm just scared that I will be as detached to my child as my mother was to me. There were good times and I don't regret how my life turned out, but what happens if I turn out like my mother? I wouldn't wish that on any child, let alone one that I carried for nine months and felt move inside of me."

I held Anna's hand in mine. "Anna, I can't begin to understand how you were raised. You saw my dysfunctional family. Even being in a different time zone, we're still extremely close. I saw you interact with my niece and nephew and they adore you. I also know that Cody adores you as well. I don't think you have anything to worry about as far as turning out like your mother. You've got a great support system with me and with Bryan and Cathy as well as my family. You'll be an all star mother."

"I hope you're right and I also think that we'd probably need to be married first or your mother would tan my hide." Anna turned her attention back to the CD in the player and I let the subject drop, but was hoping that was her backhanded way of telling me she was okay with the idea.

We had driven another thirty minutes when the CD reached the end and had started over. Anna had just reached up to change the disc when she stopped herself and let the automatic CD ejector take the disc back in and start playing it over. "Can I ask you something?"

I had been lost in thought as I listened to Anna sing the parts of the CD that she knew. I interjected with my own singing when I knew parts. "Of course you can."

We were less than half an hour from home when my phone rang. I saw on the caller ID that it was Bryan's number. Since Anna was driving and I knew Bryan would want to talk to her, I answered the phone. "Ronald's House of Pies. This is CSI Man. How can I help you?"

"Funny, dude. Where are you? Aggie hasn't called yet and by my calculations, you should be close to Summerlin."

"Bryan wants to know where we are." I held the phone out to Anna.

She tucked her hair behind her ear before she took the phone from me. "We're about half an hour from home. I was just…" Anna stopped talking, "Bryan we were…" I could tell by her facial expressions that she was getting flustered, "Would you just let me finish!" Anna laughed, "Thank you. We were about to stop for gas and as soon as we were done, I was planning on calling you. I didn't want to return Cathy's truck to her on empty nor did I want to blow myself up by being on the cell phone while I'm pumping gas."

I could hear Bryan talking on the phone, but couldn't make out what he was saying until Anna turned the speakerphone on. "... about all that. Your truck is on empty, too. All because I care that much."

"Ass. I was gonna be nice, but it's on. You can have Cathy's truck back then as is which is completely empty. Give us less than half an hour and we'll be pulling in to my driveway."

"Be careful, Aggs. Can Nick hear me?"

I picked the phone up, "Yeah, Anna put it on speakerphone."

"Figured. Tell her to be careful driving. I'm not at work today and I don't need one of those other morons at work coming to rescue the two of you."

Anna laughed and said we'd be home in a little bit.

True to her word, exactly half an hour later, we pulled in to our driveway. "I can't believe I'm home. I can't believe I'm home with you."

Anna was pulling to a stop behind her truck. Bryan was standing in the driveway and was holding Cody. "What's that mean?" I looked over at Anna for an answer but she was waving at Cody who was using both of his hands as he waved back at us.

"Later. Not in front of Cody." Anna pulled the keys out of the ignition and opened the door, leaving me as puzzled now as when she left me when she actually left me. "Hey, Cody."

"Aunt Anna!" Cody wiggled out of Bryan's grip, almost to the point of causing Bryan to drop him on the driveway. He broke out into a big grin and ran the few steps to Anna and jumped up as high as he could and caught her waist. "Daddy said you went to see Gamma Ceecee and Gampa David and Uncle Nicky went to go get you."

Anna picked Cody up as Bryan watched, "Yep, I did go see my mom and dad and then Nicky did come get me and now we're back and I missed you."

Cody hugged Anna's neck tightly, "I missed you too, Aunt Anna." He let go of Anna's neck, signaling that he wanted to get down. "Uncle Nicky!" The little boy ran over to me and I caught him in mid jump and held on to him. "I missed you, Uncle Nicky."

I didn't get a chance to answer because I was watching the reunion between Bryan and Anna. Bryan was at least three inches taller than the six feet in height that I could claim, which meant he towered over Anna even more than I did. She stepped closer and he finally picked her up and let her feet dangle a good foot off of the ground as she put her arms around his neck. It was a good minute before Anna said anything and when she finally did, her voice was soft. "I missed you." Anna had her back to me but I could tell by her shaking shoulders that she was crying, "Frog, I missed you."

Bryan's voice was almost as quiet as Anna's, "Aggs, I missed you, too. Work hasn't been the same without you. We're all starving at the department because none of us can cook worth a damn." Anna started to laugh and Bryan put her down on the ground, "If you ever do something that damn stupid ever again, I can and will kick your redheaded ass all the way from here to Maine and back. You got that?"

Anna smiled as she wiped tears out of her eyes, "Given what I've cried over the past couple weeks, I should be all cried out by now but I'm not. Where's Cathy?"

"At work. She wants you to call her when you and CSI Man get settled in." Bryan held out his hand and Cody took it, "In any event, your keys." He dropped the keys to her Xterra in her hand, "I know you and CSI Man have some settling in to do, but if you can come up for air long enough, call me later on."

"Bryan!" Anna slugged him on the shoulder. "There are children present." I started to laugh as I got our bags out of the back of Cathy's truck and dropped them under the carport.

Bryan waived it off, "He thinks I'm talking about swimming which is why I made the reference I did. Cathy gets off at eight and I'm sure she'd love to come by and see you since she wants to kick your butt as bad as I want to." After picking Cody up, Bryan hugged Anna again, "I mean that. If you ever do something that stupid…" He didn't finish his thoughts because of Cody and instead, hugged Anna again before Cody said he was being squashed. Laughing, Bryan let go of Anna again. "Just remember…"

"Yeah, yeah. Go home, Frogster." Anna reached in and got the last two bags out of the back seat of Cathy's truck before tossing Bryan the keys and shutting the door.

"I'm glad you had the sense enough to come home." Bryan opened the door to Cathy's truck and let Cody sit in the back seat. "And that you had the sense enough to listen to CSI Man when he asked you to come back with him." Bryan slammed the door shut, "Or I really would have kicked your ass. Love you, Aggs."

"Love you too, Frog." Anna reached for my hand as we watched Bryan leave. He waved before he disappeared down the road.

Anna and I walked hand in hand towards the gate and she let go of my hand long enough for me to lock it. I let the lock hit the metal gate and checked to be sure it was locked. After seeing that it was, I picked her up and carried her back towards the house. "Inside now?"

Though she had to maneuver around a bit in my arms to reach, she kissed me, "Yes."

After adjusting Anna in my arms to where she had her legs around my waist and arms around my neck, I walked as fast as I could inside, ignoring our bags that were on the ground under the carport. After unlocking the door, I set her down on the floor in the living room and turned to lock the door. When I turned back around, Anna was stripping her clothes off and started to reach for my shirt to pull it up over my head. I held my arms up and she got it off and threw it on the couch behind her. After jumping up at me and almost causing me to trip over Draco who happily bounded up to us after hearing Anna's voice as she asked me to make love to her again, I carried her back to the bedroom and shut the door to keep Danilla and Draco out of the room as we made love for the first time after getting home.

Almost two hours later, the scratching and the whining behind the door was getting too much to handle. Anna slipped on one of my work shirts and opened the door, almost getting trampled to death by Danilla who came racing into the room and leapt on the bed and was closely followed by Draco who stopped at the edge of the bed after realizing that Anna wasn't in bed with me. Anna left the room with Draco a step behind her but came back with a glass of ice water and set it on the bedside table before throwing my shirt into the corner and getting back in bed with me. "Warm me up. It's cold in here."

I pulled Anna closer to me and wrapped my arms around her as I relished the feeling of her skin next to mine. "This is the part I missed the most while you were gone."

"What?" Anna adjusted herself where she was on her back, looking up at me.

I put my left arm under her neck and she put her left leg over my right hip and interlaced the fingers on her left hand with mine. "This. The closeness. Now that Bryan's gone and we've come up for air so to speak, can we finish the conversation we had earlier?"

"Yeah. We can." Anna reached for her water and finished about a third of the glass before offering it to me. I finished off the rest of the water and handed it back to her. She pulled the covers up to cover her chest before returning to the position we were in earlier. "This is what I missed, too."

"In the truck, you started to ask me something but never did and you made the comment in the driveway. Can we start there?"

I felt Anna's grip tighten on my hand, "Yes we can. I wanted to ask you if there was ever a time when I was gone that you thought about giving up on me."

"Anna." That wasn't what I expected her to ask.

"I caught you off guard. I know. I just know that I caused you so much pain. I know Bryan told you he talked to me even though he swore he wouldn't. I kinda expected him to actually. He kept telling me you were holding your own and it killed me to think you had moved on already. I wanted to call you so many times to tell you I was sorry but I was scared of your answer. That's why I said what I said in the driveway. I'm still in shock and awe that I'm here with you. I didn't think you'd speak to me again." Anna released her hand from mine and adjusted her engagement ring before taking my hand in hers again and kissing me softly. "I'm so sorry, Nicky."

"Anna, I put on a brave front because I didn't want anyone to know about you. Warrick was the only one who knew at first. I wound up moving in with him and then he saved my ass."

"From Renee?"

I nodded, "Yeah. From doing something stupid because of her. After Warrick threatened to handcuff me to a street lamp, I told him. I broke down and told Catherine a couple of weeks before I came to see you. I started to hear Caledonia all the time or flashes of us would hit me at all hours of the day. Cath noticed when we were at lunch on a break from a case and confronted me and it all came out. By that time I was losing hope that you'd come back, but I realized then that God forbid if you didn't come back that it'd take a long, long time before I could move on and I never, ever would have been able to get over you." I stopped to kiss Anna, "Pour vous ayez mon coeur. Je t'aime beaucoup. Tres beaucoup."

"Look at you, Mr. Language Expert." Anna smiled, "And you have my heart as well, Nick." She returned the kiss I gave her earlier, "And I love you, too."

"Since we're being honest, my turn to ask a question again."

"Anything." Anna reached up to kiss me before nudging my chin up with the top of her head so she could lie in bed closer to me.

"Your sister said something that day and I, well, I need to know if..." I trailed off, unsure how to word my question. "I want to know if the fact I slept with a hooker bothers you."

"No, why should it?"

I sighed, "It bothered your sister. I was just hoping it didn't bother you."

I could feel Anna shaking her head, "No it doesn't bother me. Nicky, she's in your past. I have no problems with her or her chosen profession. I don't judge people. I get enough of that from my family. Aside from which, my sister is an old fashioned prude. Blame it on the French upbringing."

"So you're sure it's not a problem?"

"You want me to be wrong?"

I had to laugh at Anna's smartass remark, "No. I don't want you to be wrong. I just wanted to make sure Kristy wasn't a hangup for you."

"She's not. Answer me this though. If she didn't die, would you have pursued a relationship with her? A personal one I mean?"

"I don't know. She told me the night she died she was getting out of her line of work but the guy that killed her was her pimp. He said she was going back to college to recruit more girls. Of course by this time, she was gone and I couldn't ask her." I started to lightly trace my fingertips across Anna's back causing her skin to react with chill bumps. "If she was honest about changing jobs, maybe. We'd probably have had to leave Vegas." I pulled away from Anna so I could kiss her. "And we would have never met."

Anna returned her head under my chin after she kissed me back, "As my grandmother always says 'les choses se produisent toujours pour une raison.'"

"My French isn't that good. That means what?"

"It means things always happen for a reason. I'm not saying that Kristy's death had to happen but if she didn't die and you did start a relationship with her and you did move, like you said, we would have never met."

"True. So your sister is the prude and you're not hung up like she said?"

"Nicky, I love you. I have no problems with Kristy or whoever else. I'm thankful you're still you. I never thought I'd be back here again with you. I knew as soon as I left that I screwed up but the most maddening decisions seem like the right ones at the time and..." Anna stopped when she gasped, "Damn."

I looked over Anna's shoulder and saw Danilla behind her. The cat had her head cocked to the side and her left paw on Anna's shoulder. She was poking Anna with her claws because we weren't paying attention to her. When Danilla meowed and swatted Anna again, causing Anna to gasp another time, I couldn't help myself. I started laughing. "I'm glad you're home. This is how our lives are supposed to be."

**A/N: Anna and Nick return. Typed this chapter out on my BlackBerry earlier today after I got attacked by a plot bunny. Vicious little creatures.**


	24. Walk on the Ocean

**Chapter 24 – Walk on the Ocean**

"What about Valentine's Day?"

Anna groaned, "Nicky, no. I'm not getting married on a day that ten thousand other people in Las Vegas will be getting married on. Little Chapel of the Flowers will be booked beyond capacity there and that's the only chapel in Vegas that streams their weddings live."

"Still not sure about inviting your parents?"

"Not yet. My sister really hurt me with some of her comments about us before we left. I doubt she'd be thrilled to hear we're actually going through with the wedding." Anna stopped and kissed me as I grabbed my duty bag and my keys. "Aside from which, we can get married whenever. Bryan just wants to give him enough time so he can learn to walk in whatever heels coordinate with the bridesmaids' dresses."

I had forgotten Bryan's comment about being Anna's maid of honor at our wedding and having to wear a dress. "Lord, I forgot about that. That one we'll talk about. I'm headed in. Love you."

"Love you too, Nicky." Leaving Anna in the kitchen, I got in my truck and left Summerlin to head to work, but I had one slight detour to make before I got to the crime lab.

After arriving at my destination, I picked up the bouquet of six pink tulips I had gotten earlier that day and locked my truck and started towards the back of the cemetery plot. After finding the grave site I wanted to visit, I set the bouquet of flowers down in the stone vase and brushed off some dead grass and a few leaves that were on top of the headstone. "Hey Kristy." I moved some more leaves that blew on top of the marker when the wind picked up. "I guess you're saying hello back." After moving leaves off the marker a second time, I finally stopped trying to fight a losing battle with the leaves and gave up. "Just wanted to say hi and I brought you some flowers." I kneeled down and pulled the ribbon off of the flowers I had set in the vase that was attached to the headstone. "I wish I would have known you longer than I did. I don't even know what kind of flowers you like. Anna's favorites are pink tulips so that's what I've been bringing you. I just wanted to stop by before work and tell you thank you for listening to me while Anna was gone. I didn't really have anyone else to talk to about this. I don't know if you had anything to do with putting in a good word for me with the man upstairs, but I got Anna back. She came back with me and now we're engaged. We stopped in Texas on our way back to Vegas and I gave her a ring and everything. You'd like her." I started to stand up and dusted the grass off of my jeans. "I've got to get to work but I just wanted to stop by and say thanks for your help."

Anna had known I had been coming by Kristy's grave in the cemetery for a while now and didn't have a problem with it. When Anna and I first got together, she saw me turning in the cemetery and followed me in. Concerned about someone dying and not knowing what had happened, she found me in the cemetery standing at Kristy's grave. After she asked what was wrong and why I was here alone, I told her the story of Kristy Hopkins and what happened to her. Anna's genuine reaction of concern and compassion was one of the many reasons I fell in love with her as hard as I did so early on in our relationship. When she comforted me when I grieved again over what happened to Kristy, there wasn't an ounce of jealousy or discord in her voice when she told me how sorry she was about Kristy's death and about how she was killed. Even after I told her what Kristy did for a living and what had happened between her and me, she didn't judge or object. It was at that moment in the cemetery that I realized Anna was like no other woman I had ever met.

The day after we got back from my parents' house, Anna stopped by the fire department and inquired about what it would take to come back to work from her leave of absence. She told me later that the unanimous fire station vote was a pan of her famous homemade lasagna, but her shift captain said that plus a note from her doctor stating her gunshot wounds were healed was what he'd need to clear it with HR.

Two days later, I accompanied Anna on a trip back to Desert Palms to see her surgeon. A clean MRI later, he told Anna to drop off a pan of her lasagna at his office as he signed the forms her shift captain needed and together, we left there and headed home after dropping the forms off at the station. I stayed in the truck while she went in and when she came back out a moment later, Anna brightly told me that they needed her back at work Thursday for a shift on the ambulance with Bryan.

I went back to work for the two days before Anna did and caught a couple of easy cases that had me getting off work fairly close to my regular time off. This was my third day back at work. Grissom handed out assignments and Greg and I got assigned to a dead body inside a home on the west end of town, known as Little Gulf for its condensed population of immigrants from Cuba, the Caribbean islands and Haiti. We had been at the scene for a few hours and had all but come to the conclusion after walking in that there was no foul play, but we finished processing anyway.

"Looks like she just died here in bed getting dressed. Poor lad…" Greg cut off when we heard a noise coming from the back of the house. "What was that?" He looked up from the lady's body. "Who else is here with us?"

I undid the holster snap on my gun and got it out, keeping it down at my side. "Any of your guys back there?"

Detective Vartann shook his head, "We're the only ones in here, or at least we're supposed to be." He left the room after drawing his weapon and started towards the back of the house.

The three of us left the master bedroom and slowly started to approach the back of the house where the noise came from. Vartann stopped to clear a side bedroom, leaving Greg and me alone in the hallway. "This is Nick Stokes and Greg Sanders. We're with the Las Vegas Crime Lab. Please come out of the room with your hands in the air."

Greg turned to look back at Vartann, "How do you say it in Spanish?"

Detective Vartann was in between Greg and me and he called out the command in Spanish, but no one came out. "Guess we need to see who's in there. It could be a child." He called out again in Spanish as well as twice in English but again, no one answered.

Greg brought his gun in front of him and started to bring it up to aim through the door as Vartann moved to one side of the door. "Or a shotgun wielding who knows what." As Greg stepped to the same side of the door that Vartann was on, I stayed on the other side and on the count of three, Vartann kicked it open and jumped back when it registered to him what was actually inside. "Jesus!"

I looked in the room to see what he was throwing a fit about. "What?"

"What the hell is that?" I looked over at Greg who was pointing in the bathroom. Trying to figure out what he meant, my eyes followed the imaginary trail to where he was pointing. I finally saw that there was a large black and tan dog lying down on the rug in the bathroom at the back of the house. "It looks mean."

"No, it looks scared. Put your gun down, Greg. I'm really not wanting to get shot today." I put my gun back in my holster and told Vartann to do the same as I approached the dog slowly. She didn't trust me and got up and hid between the sink and the toilet. "Hi, puppy!"

Vartann started to balk as he stood behind me, "Puppy my butt. That dog could eat you for dinner."

"Whatever." I got down on the floor and sat on my knees and looked at the dog. "Come here." The dog cocked her head to the side and her ears perked up before she made a move. "Come on. It's okay." I held my hand out and the dog took a sniff of me, causing both Vartann and Greg to back up. "If you're both that scared, go call animal control and wait up front."

They didn't need to be asked twice. After making a comment about hoping I wouldn't get eaten, they turned and left the room, leaving me alone with the dog. I heard Greg and Vartann going over who would be the one to tell Anna that I had been eaten by a stray dog at a crime scene in the event that task needed to be completed.

After a bit more coaxing, the dog finally came out from her hiding spot. I saw that she had a collar on her and used my belt as a leash so I could lead her outside and away from the house. Greg saw me coming out with her and took a step to the side just in case. "She's fine. Go back inside and start processing until the coroner gets here. I'll stay outside with the dog until animal control gets here to pick her up."

Vartann said he had already called them and they were on their way as I tossed my field kit in the back seat of the Tahoe so I could stay outside with the dog. She was a well built and chunky Rottweiler mix and according to the tag on her collar, her name was Cassie. I found some potato chips in the center console of my truck that I had left over from a day or so ago and though I knew the chips weren't the best thing for the dog to eat, they were all I had. I handed them to her one at a time. Cassie was very dainty and didn't snap or grab at my fingers and took each chip from me very gently before putting it on the ground to sniff it before she ate it. I took a seat on the driveway next to my Tahoe and handed Cassie another potato chip. "I'm sorry about your owner in there, girl. It'd help us a lot if you could talk. You could tell us what happened. I don't think anyone hurt your owner, but we won't know that until we get her back to the station." Cassie dropped the chip on the ground and instead of eating it, she looked up at me and licked my fingers before she picked up the potato chip that had she dropped and ate it. "You look like you've been fed and cared for. No shortage of meat on your bones." I gave her another potato chip as I scratched her ears. She ate the potato chip and looked up at me again, begging for another. "I don't have any more potato chips. You've eaten them all." Sensing I was out of food, she stretched out on her side in front of me and sighed. "I wonder how you'd get along with Draco?" I could see that the little nub of a tail she had was moving as I spoke to her. She was clearly enjoying the one on one attention I was giving her. "Would you eat Draco or Danilla, or Anna for that matter?" Cassie picked her head up and looked over her shoulder at me before sighing and laying her head back on the concrete. "If I bring you home, will you promise me not to eat Anna?"

I was scratching Cassie's ears when the animal control officer showed up. "Derek Evanston. I'm with Animal Control. This dead lady's dog?"

"Yep." I reached down to pet the dog's head. "I didn't even see you drive up. She seems to be a really sweet dog with a fondness for potato chips. So, what happens to her?"

The officer shook his head, "I don't know really. It'll depend on a temperament test and if she fails, well, then there's not much we can do for her. Right now, we're beyond capacity. We'll keep her as long as the investigation is open but as soon as it closes, if we still don't have room for her, she'll be destroyed."

I stood up, "Excuse me?"

Derek put the catch pole loop around the dog's neck and handed me my belt back. He started to lead her towards the back of the truck with me following them both. After unlocking one of the cages, he attempted to get Cassie to jump in the back. The dog sat down and didn't move. "Come on, girl. Let's go." The officer tried again to get her to jump, but she refused. Instead, she turned and looked over her shoulders at me. The officer turned to face me, "Help me, please?"

"My fiancé is going to kill me." I made a step towards the dog and I saw the slightest movement in the nub of her tail again. It was almost as if she knew what I was about to do. "Hold it. What if you had an adopter for her? What then?"

"What? You want her?"

The dog looked over at me and with eyes that nearly melted my soul, I hoped Anna would be agreeable to taking this dog in without me clearing it with her first. "Maybe. I can't stand to see her killed." Derek didn't move and I continued, hoping I could convince him to give me the dog. "Come on. The dog's owner just died and now you're telling me you're going to kill the dog? It's just my fiancé and me at home and we own our own home and she's already got a Doberman mix and a cat plus horses. We live out in Summerlin so there's plenty of room for her to romp and play."

Derek looked at me but didn't say anything for a moment. "Well, we usually require a waiting period and a reference check, but seeing as how you are who you are, I'm sure I can let this one slide." Derek told me to hold the catch pole while he got something out of his truck. "You ever stop by the LVPD?"

I bent down to pet the dog. She responded by licking my hand before pawing at my boot when I quit petting her. "All the time." I reached down to pet her again. "Why?"

He held out a piece of paper towards me. "Fill this out and leave it with the desk clerk. We have a mail slot. I'll approve it and get the adoption fee taken care of if everything checks out. Do you need a leash?"

"Thank you." I took the application from him and folded it in half as I reached in my pocket for the keys to my Tahoe. "Actually, I may not. Let me check." I handed the catch pole back to Derek and went to look in my truck. Draco needed her shots right before Anna got back home and I had taken Draco to the vet in my Tahoe when I got off work. If my memory served me right, I never did get Draco's leash out of the back of my Tahoe. When I opened the back door of my Tahoe, I looked in the floorboards and there was Draco's bright purple leash. "I got one." I dropped the application on the front seat of the truck and shut the door.

"Consider yourself the proud owner of a Rottweiler mix named Cassie." Derek undid the catch pole and I clipped the leash to the dog's collar. "Let me know if you have any problems with her and be sure to leave that application at the station. You work out of the crime lab, right?"

"Yeah." He handed me the leash after he clipped it to Cassie's collar.

"Just leave it there, then. I drive by that place enough as it is. You did a good thing." Derek looked down at Cassie. "People think we're heartless when it comes to that, but I'm glad you can give her a good home. It looks like she had one here, too."

I shook his hand and took Cassie back to my truck. "Well. Now what am I supposed to do with you? I can't bring you back inside. You'll contaminate my crime scene." Cassie sat down and perked her ears as she listened to me speak. One of her ears flopped over more than the other one and her head was slightly misshapen. "Wonder what happened to you?" Cassie cocked her head to the side again and whimpered, "Guess I could call Anna."

"What are you still doing with Killer Cujo here? Didn't animal control just leave?" Greg stopped about three feet behind me when Cassie whimpered again.

"Yeah, they did and I'm taking her home and her name is Cassie, not Killer Cujo." After hearing her name, Cassie started to pant and whined. "She likes you. She's wagging her tail." I gently pulled on the leash and Cassie responded by following me. I opened the back door of the Tahoe and she jumped right in. "Didn't even need any coaxing. Good girl!" I clipped the leash around the driver's side headrest and shut the door. It wasn't that hot outside, but I started my truck and left the windows cracked an inch or so. I turned the air conditioner on and shut the driver's side door, leaving Cassie in the truck where she'd be safe.

Greg stayed where he was. "I'll take your word on that. You better hope she doesn't eat anything. Like Anna…"

I glanced back over my shoulders at the truck. I could see the end of Cassie's nose sticking out of the crack in the window. "She'll be fine and we're almost done here. Coroner's almost done, right?"

"Yeah." Greg stood to one side as a uniformed officer came out of the house. "They're getting done now."

David and one of his assistants brought the lady's body out and took it to the van. He said they'd start on the post as soon as they got back. Greg and I spent another half an hour collecting evidence. Everything we found confirmed our suspicions that the lady simply died of natural causes and there was no foul play suspected.

Greg and I walked outside together after we cleared the scene, but he and I parted company as soon as I got close to my truck. He kept about four feet of distance between us when I reached for my door handle to get in. "Wuss."

He stood behind the mailbox and watched as I got ready to open the door to my truck, "I'm expecting Cassie to come out and go all Cujo on you. Figured if she does, you'd need help."

"And you'd help, how?"

"I'd hide."

"You're so helpful there, Greg." I shook my head, "See you in a bit. I'm leaving. I'm gonna call Anna to come get her."

I backed out of the driveway and started towards the lab. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I flipped it open and started to dial Anna's number when she called me first. "Perfect timing. I was just about to call you."

"I beat you to it. I figured I'd get your voicemail. I just wanted to say hi. How's work going?"

I came to a stop at the stop sign at the entrance of the subdivision and after making sure no one was coming, I eased out onto the main road, being careful not to accelerate too fast as not to throw Cassie in the floorboards. "Not bad. Just got done at a DFO and well, I have something I need to tell you."

"Uh, oh. Whenever I hear those words…"

I interrupted Anna, "Well, it's nothing bad I don't think." I adjusted the rearview mirror so I could watch Cassie. She was on her side and was sound asleep. "I sort of, well, I have a dog with me and…"

It was Anna's turn to cut me off, "And what?"

"Well, the lady that DFOed had a dog and they were gonna kill her and I sort of told the ACO we'd take her."

"Nicky."

"Anna. You should see her. She's flipped over on her back in the back seat of my truck. She's sweet and she promises she won't eat you or Danilla and she promises she'll be friends with Draco. I even had her hold up her paw and swear on a stack of potato chips."

"Potato chips?"

"That's all I had in my truck for Cassie to swear on, but she still put her paw on that bag and promised not to eat you."

Anna laughed, "Well that's a point in her favor. I take it you want to bring her home?"

"If it's okay with you." Cassie yawned in the back seat and flopped over to her back and was now completely on her back, four paws in the air. I started laughing. When Anna asked me what was so funny, I tried to describe the dog's position in my back seat. "So what sayeth the Queen? Can we keep her?"

"Butter that toast, Nicky. Need me to come pick her up or are you gonna bring her home?"

"I've still got to go back to the lab and drop some stuff off but if you want to meet me there, we could grab lunch or something and you could meet her then."

"Sounds good. I'm on my way to the lab now. See you in a bit. Love you."

"Love you, too." I shut the phone and tossed it into a cup holder in my truck and headed back towards the crime lab.

About twenty minutes later, Judy was paging me, telling me I had a visitor. Figuring it was Anna, I headed up front, but it was the animal control officer needing to get a photograph of the dog for his records. I had left Cassie with Judy and she gladly brought the dog out and held her still for Derek to get the picture he needed. I told him I hadn't had time to fill out the paperwork yet but I'd let him know when I did.

As he was leaving the building, Anna was walking in. "Anna, meet Cassie." When I said her name, the dog perked up and started to shake. "Cassie, this is Anna." Judy handed me Cassie's leash. As I started to walk towards Anna, Cassie was straining on her leash, trying to get to Anna as quickly as she could. Anna bent down and petted Cassie before Cassie sighed and wound up sitting on top of Anna's feet. "Look, she likes you already. How can you say no to that face?"

Anna didn't look up right away. She sat down on the floor in front of me and Cassie followed suit and sat beside her, "You better be glad I'm an animal lover." When Anna stood up to leave, Cassie followed. I walked outside with them and told Anna goodbye and helped her load the dog into the back of her Xterra. "See you in a bit."

I kissed Anna and headed back inside. Greg came in with me and we finished up on what we had collected at the house. Doc Robbins came up from the morgue to tell us his official COD was an aneurysm and for us to rule this lady's death a death by natural causes.

After Greg and I had gotten done, I snuck out of the lab about an hour earlier than my shift was over with. Greg said he'd cover for me if anyone came looking. I told myself that after all of the unpaid overtime and the strain and problems this job had caused me, I had earned the free hour. Quickly walking to my Tahoe, I managed to get in and sneak out of the parking lot before Grissom or Ecklie saw me.

When I got back home, I didn't see Anna or the dogs. I heard splashing coming from the back of the house and followed the sounds towards the back.

As I looked in the sunroom, Anna was swimming laps. Draco was in her normal spot in her beige dog bed underneath the planter on the west end of the room. I opened the door slowly and saw Cassie stretched out on a reclining lawn chair. I laughed to myself at the thought I had about all that the dog needed was a pair of sunglasses, a book and sunscreen on her snout and she'd look like a beach bum. Anna had spread a blanket across the lawn chair and Cassie was sleeping happily a few feet away from Draco. I took a seat on the other lawn chair in the room and waited on Anna to finish swimming her laps or at least realize I was here. Draco started barking at something and when she did, Anna stopped. "Nicky, hey." She hoisted herself out of the pool. "How long have you been watching?"

"Not long."

Anna had pulled herself out of the pool but kept her feet in. I told her I'd be right back and went inside and changed into a pair of swim trunks. When I came back out, Anna was swimming in the lap pool using a pink plastic kick board. I got in the water with her and swam out to where she was and took the other end of the board. Even though I could touch the bottom from where I was standing, I could feel the motion under the water that Anna couldn't. Every time she kicked, I could feel the water moving next to my legs. "First time back in the pool since, I was, well you know."

"Do you think about that a lot?"

"I try not to." Anna let go of the board and went under water. When she surfaced again, she grabbed the board and shook her wet hair off of her face. "I can't say it's any easier, but, I don't know. It's…"

Anna didn't say anything right away. "I give up. What is it?"

"I don't know if easier is the right word either, but I have accepted it happened to me and I can't change that. I'm not afraid anymore I guess is what I'm trying to say. Fear was a huge part of my life after it happened. I told you I was worried about Renee coming to finish what I started or worse, me not being able to protect you. I haven't had a nightmare about that in weeks. Sometimes, my shoulder will hurt or something and I'll have a flashback to lying on the floor but it's not as bad as they were. I'm hoping the visions will fade over time."

"Mine too." Anna leaned her head against my arm which was resting on the board, "Some of the scariest moments of my life were sitting there, just waiting to die. I thought you had already died. I didn't know what I'd do without you."

"As much as I try not to think about it, I do from time to time. I just, I don't know. I know that it happened. I got shot. I moved on and I did a lot of really stupid stuff along the way, but that's all in the past, right?"

"Yep." I moved the board out of the way and held on to Anna as I started to walk down towards the more shallow area of the pool so she could stand on her own. "You don't look like you lost it any while you were on sabbatical."

"That's one way to word it. I can tell I haven't been in the water in a while. I can't do the laps I used to do but if I survive work tomorrow, I'll work my way back up to what I was at. Speaking of which, I have to go back to work tomorrow. Bryan's already called and asked me to dust off my Super Medic cape. I told him I was kind of nervous and that I haven't even gotten my uniform out of our closet yet. What if I kill someone?"

I laughed, "You won't kill anyone. You'll be fine." I set Anna down in the shallow end of the pool but she didn't get out. The pool had steps at the shallow end and Anna sat on one of them. I sat down beside her. "How has Cassie been?"

"Lord, she loves the water. That was one of the first things I learned when I brought her home. I was gonna swim laps, but got sidetracked and didn't do it. I got busy with other stuff around here and heard this splash. I came back here thinking Draco fell in and instead, Cassie was doing laps in the pool."

"Sounds like she's fitting in fine." I yawned. "Long day. Rescuing damsels in distress is always hard. Take me to bed or lose me forever."

"Said the man who tripped and about killed himself over a flower pot." Anna stepped out of the pool and held her hands out towards me, "Show me the way home, honey."

**A/N: Little Chapel of the Flowers does exist in Vegas and they do stream their wedding online. If you're bored, look them up and watch the weddings live.**

**Reviews?**


	25. Back at One

**A/N: Chapter is in memory of my sweet dog, Lucy, who passed away 12/27/10**

**Chapter 25 – Back at One**

"Ma'am? Are you okay?"

I looked over to see who Sara was talking to and saw that the wife of the suspect was doubled over in pain in the middle of their kitchen. Catherine was sweeping broken glass from the floor into an evidence bag while Sara was keeping watch on the wife. The lady groaned and put her hand over her stomach," No, I'm not."

After casting a glance in Catherine's direction, Sara reached for her radio, "What is it?"

I pulled a chair out from the dining room table and told the lady to sit down. "My stomach hurts. He hit me before you got here."

By this time, Catherine had stopped processing and was watching all of us, "Do you need an ambulance? Do you want to go to the hospital?"

The woman didn't answer Catherine's question and instead doubled over in pain again as she almost fell out of the chair as she moaned. One of the two officers with us at the scene took a step back to hide behind me. When Sara and Catherine started to help the lady, I saw that as my cue and I stepped up. "I got it. I'll call."

"So we can't arrest her?" The rookie officer that was hiding behind me looked heartbroken. "We have to call the medics?"

"Yeah. We do." I pulled the officer towards me as I started to move out of the kitchen. "No arrests just yet. Even if we know they're faking it, we have to call an ambulance if they ask for one."

"Damn." The officer put his handcuffs back in the holder on his duty belt. "I haven't even arrested anyone yet. I've only been on duty a week. My FTO said I could handle this one."

"You can go with the medics to the hospital. How's that?" I didn't give him a chance to answer as I took another step out of the kitchen so I could use my radio and call dispatch without the woman's moans in the background. I made the call in to the dispatch center and the dispatcher said she'd dispatch an ambulance and they'd be here momentarily.

I stepped back in the kitchen just in time to see the woman throw up all over the floor. Catherine jumped back and onto the counter and Sara stepped out of the way just in time as the woman threw up in the exact place Sara was just standing. "Great. Where's Greg when I need him?" Sara reached in her field kit for a jar to put the new evidence in. "Low man on the totem pole. This is perfect lackey work for him."

While we were waiting on the ambulance, the two officers helped the lady lie down on the couch. We had just gotten her situated when I saw the flashing red lights through the window. "Ambulance is here. Be right back."

I left Catherine, Sara, the two officers and the lady as I left the house and started down the driveway. "Hey Nicky."

"Anna. Hey"

Bryan cleared his throat and acted like he was hurt that I didn't realize he was there. "And me? Hello?"

"I was getting there. Hey Bryan."

"Better. Whatcha got for Aggs and me?" He pulled a pen out of his pocket so he could start in on the run report "Anything good?"

"Woman's inside her house. We got the call originally for them being suspects in a burglary at a check cashing place up off the strip. PD made the scene and then they called us. Woman said she got hit in the stomach during the argument with her husband that they were having right when we got here. After PD took the husband in custody and they found out she had an open warrant and were about to arrest her, she started saying her stomach hurt and that's when we called you. The officer inside is a newbie and hasn't arrested anyone yet. He was upset that he couldn't use his handcuffs until I told him he could ride in the ambulance with y'all."

"We'll indulge but it's somewhat strange." Bryan looked over at Anna, "Chrome induced ischemia normally doesn't happen this quickly. It's usually once they're in the squad car on their way to the slammer."

I was confused as I helped Bryan pull the stretcher out of the back of the ambulance, "Chrome induced what?"

Anna smiled as she took over for me, "Medic slang for when the patient develops inexplicable chest or abdominal pains after being arrested and handcuffed." I still didn't get what Anna was saying. She saw my confusion and continued, "The handcuffs go on and the arrestee starts complaining something hurts, their asthma acts up or they're dying. It's basically just an excuse to go to the ED rather than jail right away."

"And she's not even in handcuffs yet much to the disdain of the newbie."

Bryan shrugged, "She got a head whack?"

Anna repeated Bryan's shoulder shrug as she looked over at me. "That's medic speak for a shot to the head."

"I don't know. She didn't say anything about being hit in the head when we got here. Whatever it is, she's yours." I was beginning to feel sorry for dumping this woman on the two of them, but it was their job.

"And most men just bring their women flowers." Anna reached in the back of the ambulance and got the AED bag out and tossed it on the stretcher as Bryan started pulling it towards the house.

"Hey Nick?"

I looked over at Bryan, "Yeah?"

"Bout damn time you brought Aggs home. I've been bored as hell without her."

Anna hit Bryan in the back of the shoulder as he changed places with her so she could go in first, "Yeah and the only reason I came back was because I missed you. It had nothing to do with Nicky."

I smiled, "She made good on that lasagna promise yet?"

It was my turn to be playfully hit, "Nicky, not you too."

"All I meant was I never got a call saying you had cooked." Admiring the way the two of them kept their job interesting, I followed behind them as we went back inside. I knew how miserable I was without Anna but it hit me now all the times I saw Bryan without Anna when I saw him at work made sense now. I was miserable without my girlfriend and he was miserable without his best friend.

Once in, Bryan started assessing the woman as the two officers stood off to one side to observe. "Hello, ma'am. I'm Bryan and this is Anna and we're your paramedics for the day. What's the problem?"

"My stomach hurts." The lady had sat up when she heard us come in but was doubled over in pain on the couch again, "Do something! Help me!"

"Well, that's no good but you're in luck." Bryan motioned to Anna to move. She tossed something in her kit and stood to the same side as the officers as Bryan took charge of the case. "This week and this week only, we're running a special on abdominal distress and all for a very reasonable price." Anna just shook her head and helped the woman to her feet and told her to lie down as Bryan started strapping her in as he continued, "That low price includes parts, labor, a ride to the hospital and a check of all vital systems as well as a five year, 50,000 mile warranty, whichever comes first." Bryan reached over and got the last set of straps to the board and tightened them on his side of the gurney. "Sound good?"

The lady had no response as they started shoving the gurney towards the ambulance as Anna waited on the rookie officer to go outside first, "God, I've missed you."

"About time you admitted that." Bryan reached to his right shoulder to grab at the microphone to his radio. "Medic 78 to base."

"Need a cop to come with us."

At Anna's statement, the rookie cop's partner shoved him towards the ambulance. "Rick, go." The other officer watched as the rookie's face lit up. He took a step forward and helped Bryan load the stretcher in the back of the truck as the dispatcher answered. As they were getting in the back of the rig, Bryan called in to dispatch that they were en route to Desert Palms. "And we're off. Later, Nicky."

Catherine stood between the older officer and me while Sara stayed inside. "Welcome back, Anna."

"Thanks Cath. We're outta here."

I stood back and watched as Anna made short work of the distance between the back of the ambulance and the driver's door. I told her I'd text her later on and watched as they drove off. "Baptism by fire apparently for her."

"How's she doing?"

I didn't get a chance to answer as Sara came out and headed towards her truck at the edge of the driveway. "I'm taking this blood and vomit evidence back to trace before we lose it. Meet you guys there."

"Be there in a bit." Sara got in her truck as Catherine reached around me and tossed her field kit in the back of her truck. "Anna looked happy."

"Oh, she should. She's a completely different Anna from the one that left here months ago after all the mess with Nigel then with his sister happened to us. I couldn't be happier and neither could Anna."

Catherine eyed me as she shut the back door to her Tahoe. "Got you alone so now I can grill you without Sara or Greg." Greg was working with Sara on this case but when the husband was arrested, Greg went with the cops to process, leaving Sara alone. Catherine and I had finished up on a home robbery and Grissom asked us to help Sara while he was stuck with Warrick on a double homicide in the alphabet neighborhood. I left my truck at the lab and rode with Catherine up here. As she started her truck and got in, she was staring at me as I walked to the passenger's side, "There's something you're not telling me."

"Catherine, we're fine."

As soon as I opened the door, she started in again, "That part I figured but something else is going on and you're not telling me." I watched as she went from friend to investigator with her line of questioning. "Anna looked happy to be back."

"Didn't we already cover this?" I took my vest off and tossed it in the back seat on top of my field kit. "She is happy. We both are." I shut the back door and got in on the passenger's side of Catherine's Tahoe. "We're both fine. Anna is back. We're both happy. I'm happy. New dog is happy. The world is as it should be."

"Yeah, but there's something else." Catherine paused as she started to change gears on her truck. "And I will find out about it. I'm sure if I just go over what you already told me, I'll be able to figure it out." I took a drink of water from a bottle I had left in Catherine's car on the drive over and waited on her to tell me her latest theory. "She's pregnant?"

I snotted water all over Catherine's dashboard. "No." I started coughing as I choked on the rest of the water that didn't come shooting out of my nose. "No, no, no. Anna is not pregnant. My mother and sisters already asked me that while we were in Texas. Repeatedly."

"Judging from your reaction, I can move on from that. Let's see...she's not pregnant so that leaves what exactly? Promotion at work?"

I knew I'd get nowhere fast if I didn't just tell her Anna and I were engaged. "Anna and I are engaged."

"Nicky! Oh, Nick! Really? I didn't see a ring on Anna's finger and I've been on ring watch ever since you two got back."

"Anna won't wear it at work. The ring will tear the latex gloves." In her moment of excitement, Catherine wasn't paying close enough attention to the road and started to drift into the breakdown lane. "Can I drive?"

"Why?"

"Well, I won't be able to actually get married if you drive off into a ravine and kill us both."

"Sorry Nicky." She slowed down and turned her attention back to the highway. "I just never thought I'd hear you say that."

"Ouch." I put my hands on my chest over my heart. "Go for the kill shot why don't you? I'm feeling the love here. First you try to kill me by running off the road and now you're telling me I was destined to become the crazy spinster man who will die alone and be found a week later in my own home, half eaten by wild dogs."

"You underestimate me, Nick."

"How so?"

"I wouldn't let you get found a week later. It'd only be a couple days. Three or four at most. I mean, come on. You get eaten then I'd get stuck with your case load and then what?"

"Not funny now. Funny later."

"Congrats though. See, I told you when you and I talked that day that she'd be back and look what happened. Anna's back. So when's the wedding? Can I be a bridesmaid?"

I laughed, "That one is up to Anna. I know she's asked her friend Bryan's wife to be her maid of honor."

Catherine looked over at me as we coasted to a stop at a yield sign, "Doesn't Anna have a sister? She didn't ask her?"

"Anna does have a sister but she didn't ask. Her sister has a toxic personality that borders on radioactive. When I went to pick Anna up to bring her back to Vegas, her sister said some pretty nasty things to us that really hurt Anna. She hasn't spoken to her sister in about a month."

"Sorry I asked. Even if I'm not a bridesmaid, I better be invited to the wedding." Catherine shut the truck off as we got to the lab, "I am your supervisor."

After assuring Catherine she'd get an invitation, we dropped the evidence off inside and Grissom told us we could break for lunch. Sara stayed in the lab with Griss and Cath and I took off to go find Anna. I had gotten a text message in the truck with Catherine but didn't get a chance to read it until we broke for lunch. Bryan had sent me a message telling me Anna made good on her lasagna promise and told me to come eat. I snapped the phone shut and got in my truck and drove over knowing a good meal was in store.

After knocking, Bryan let me in. "CSI Man. Welcome back. Lasagna's in the kitchen. As per my text, Aggs finally made good on her promise." He told me to help myself as he walked by me and sat in one of the recliners in the day room. "Grab a plate and come join us. Cathy brought Backdraft by earlier."

"I thought firemen hated that movie?"

"We do." Anna came out of the kitchen and handed me a plate of lasagna before disappearing back in the kitchen. "Well, we don't hate it per se, but it is kind of insulting in some areas. We'd be fired if we tried stuff in that movie."

"Tried what?"

"Take your pick." Anna reappeared with her own lasagna. "No air masks at fires? Jeans under our turnouts? I could go on and on." She took a seat on the couch just adjacent to Bryan and patted the cushion next to her. "Sit. Watch Backdraft with the two of us and enjoy the lasagna I made. Engine crew is missing out. They're on an alarm call at the Tangiers."

Bryan hit the play button on the DVD remote and looked at me. "Ever seen any Mystery Science Theater: 3000 movies?"

I took a bite of lasagna, "Yeah. Why?"

"Consider me Mike Nelson and Anna is Crow."

"Why do I have to be Crow? Why can't I be Gypsy?"

Bryan shook his head, "Watch the movie, Aggs."

Anna took a bite of her lasagna as the opening scenes to Backdraft played on in the background. True to Bryan's word, they both added their own running commentary to the movie, done MST3K style. I found it funny to listen to the two of them add their own one liners, "All that's missing is the silhouette at the bottom of the movie theater chairs."

I stayed with Anna long enough to get to the scene at the bar in the movie and had to go when I got paged. Calling Grissom back, I got up to leave with Anna following me into the kitchen, "Griss?"

"Nick, I need you and Cath to come to where I am. I just got a call from dispatch about a 419 in Twin Hills. Single victim found dead in her home by her sister. PD is on the scene and Vartann said it looks staged."

"Damn." I stood up to take my plate to the kitchen as Bryan paused the movie, "Is Catherine with you at the lab?"

"No. She left right after you did and I was on my way to the PD when dispatch called." I could hear Grissom saying something to someone in the background before he turned his attention to me, "9622 Oak Hills Road. Meet Cath at the lab then meet me here."

"On my way now." I told Anna that I'd see her later and went back to the station to find Catherine. She was back in one of the labs with Bobby Dawson going over ballistics evidence from the scene we worked earlier, "Grissom needs us now. Single 419 in Twin Hills."

As soon as I said the words, Catherine left what she was doing with Bobby and moved towards the exit of the office. "Ritzy part of Vegas for a homicide."

We were out in the hallway when my phone rang again with Grissom on the other end wanting to know where we were. "On our way now. Had to stop by the lab and get Cath."

"Nick, get over here. Now."

"I'm at the lab getting Catherine. We're on our way now." I knew Grissom had a tendency to be impatient from time to time, but the urgency in his voice let me know something wasn't right.

Catherine stopped by the front desk to give some paperwork to Judy before we both broke out in a sprint towards the side door closest to the parking lot where her Tahoe was, "Tell Griss we'll be there in five."

I relayed the message before hanging up the phone. Catherine didn't say anything until we got to the scene. "Haven't had too many call outs here in this part of Vegas, well, at least not for a 419. Usually it's B&E." Catherine turned around to look me as she waited on me to get my stuff, "I almost feel out of place."

"I know the feeling." I got my field kit out of the truck and I took in a deep breath and walked as slowly as possble to the front of the house with Catherine a few steps behind me, "I'm with Grissom. Something's off and we haven't even been inside yet." Greg and Warrick looked up at us before we went in. I made eye contact with both of them before I took the first step inside the small townhome. Grissom was already at work when we walked in.

"Nick, you and Catherine can take the victim." Grissom put his camera over his right shoulder, "Sara and I will go out and talk to the sister. Warrick's doing a once over of the yard with Greg. When the coroner gets here, I'll send him in."

I barely heard him as I stared at the body of the young woman in front of me. "She does look posed."

Catherine was doing her best not to disturb the body as we waited on the coroner. "Look at her shirt. It looks like whoever put this on her, put it on her after she died. It's crooked across her chest. No woman with clothes like this would be caught out in public looking this sloppy." Catherine brought her camera in front of her and snapped a few pictures as we waited on someone from the coroner's office. "The flower in her hand. What is it? A lily?"

I shook my head, "Nope. It's a tulip."

"Since when did you become a botany expert?"

"Since I found out pink tulips are Anna's favorite flower." I looked down and tied to the stem of the flower was a plain white business card with the Gemini astrological symbol. "Florist symbol?" I studied the business card tied to the flower with a pale yellow satin ribbon, "Her date surprises her with a single flower then what?" I looked around the room for clues, "Smashes her head against the floor? I don't see any spatter anywhere."

"Eddie would bring me flowers every time we fought. He used to tell me we fought so much that I turned his truck into a mobile floral shop but I've never seen a florist advertise with a blank business card before, nor have I ever seen that logo. We can get Archie to see if he can find anything with that symbol in the Vegas business database."

I got up and stood next to Catherine. "Something isn't right here. Something's off." The scene was bothering me. It was too neat. There was no castoff, no spatter. Nothing. "Not a single thing out of place." The lady's magazines were stacked neatly in the center of her coffee table. Her cell phone was on top of the latest Nicholas Sparks novel on the table by the door. "One of my sisters is reading that same book."

"Nick. Catherine." I turned to see Doc Robbins coming in. "You get me tonight."

"And to what do Cath and I owe this to? Where's David?"

Doc Robbins was directing his assistant towards the gurney in the doorway. "Busy on a call out from swing. Bus crash. We're gonna be backed up all night. What do we have?" He directed his assistant to wheel the gurney in and open the body bag as he hit the button on his earpiece so he could record what he saw for his pathology reports. "White female, no apparent GSWs or external signs of BFT. Single white flower, possibly a rose..."

Catherine interrupted, "It's a tulip."

"I stand corrected. A single white tulip." Doc Robbins looked up at Catherine who looked pleased with herself. "No signs of defensive wounds and as it stands now, no visible COD." He stood up and motioned for his assistant to get to the body ready for transport. "I'll have to wait until I do the post until I find out what your COD is. No bruising on the skin under these lights, but I'll check with the ALS when I get back. Anything standing out here?"

"Not a thing." Catherine started to walk around the room, "Every single thing in her house is in place. The only thing Nick and I noticed when we got her was that her shirt didn't look right. Looked like she was redressed."

Doc Robbins's assistant got the body loaded, "We'll page you when I know something." The two of them gently pushed the stretcher out of the house, leaving Catherine and me to wonder what happened to this woman.

**A/N: Rewrote the first part of this chapter at least a dozen times before I found something that fits. Reviews please? Happy New Year everyone.**

**Not as long as the other ones, but...Story arc! Story arc! Story arc! Then in the upcoming chapters, Nick and Anna's wedding will be featured along with a whole other host of surprises. Stay tuned!**


	26. A Box of Rain Will Ease the Pain

**Chapter 26 – A Box of Rain Will Ease the Pain**

"Nick?"

I turned around to see Wendy coming towards me, "Got any DNA off that wine glass?"

She shook her head, "No, but that spot you found in the kitchen I kicked over to trace. It's not human blood."

I took the folder from her, "Thanks." Wendy went back to her office as I continued my trek towards Mandy's office. "Mandy?"

Mandy stuck her hand up from behind her desk, "Hold on. Mouse came unplugged." A few moments later, she put her hands on the desk and pulled herself up. "Sorry, kicked the cord from the mouse out of the back of my computer. I've been trying to get Ecklie to spring for a touch screen computer, but so far, no go."

"Good luck on that one. You'll need it." I gave her the print cards I had collected from a wine glass Catherine and I found in the dishwasher. Catherine had dusted the glass and found three clear prints that were too big to be the victim's. "We found these at Jane's house."

Mandy took the print card from me, "Your Jane Doe is no longer a Jane Doe. Doc Robbins emailed me the scans of the prints he took earlier." She reached over and handed me a printout, "Victim's name is Carol Kirby. She was in the system for a work card. She's a retired social worker who worked for DHS. She handled adoptions and according to this, rents that townhouse from a company called Reactive Solutions."

"A house for rent in that neighborhood?" I took the printout from Mandy, "Even as small as that townhome was, I bet that rent on it costs more in one month than what we pay on our house in four months. Thanks Mandy." I reached for the folder with the rest of the information in it, but she pulled it back from me.

"Ahem? Is that it?" She held up the folder. When I tried to take it a second time, she pulled it back again. "You want the results that I have here, I want something in return."

I looked at Mandy, "What?"

"You owe me. I put your prints ahead of Greg's. I think that deserves a little something. You want the folder, you give me what I want."

"Oh, come on." I groaned, "Mandy, work with me here."

Mandy looked at me as she waved the folder in front of her, teasing me with it, "Get to it, Tex. You want the folder, you sing me a song."

I knew exactly what song she wanted. Checking to make sure I didn't have an audience, I started in, "Oh Mandy, well you came and you gave..." I stopped when I noticed that Mandy had crossed her arms across her chest as she shook her head. Wanting me to sing louder, I started over, "Oh Mandy, well you came and you gave without taking but I sent you away. Oh Mandy, well you kissed me and stopped me from shaking and I need you today."

"Thank you." She held out the folder I needed after I finished. "You know I heard from Hodges that you did pretty well at that karaoke bar the night of your birthday."

"Tell Hodges he better hide."

Taking the report back to the lab I was working in, I started going over the photos that Catherine and I had taken. I was trying to find anything that would clue me in as to what happened, but just as when Catherine and I were in the townhome earlier, I didn't find anything inside the house that gave me any clue about what was going on. After finding two impressions in the carpet in the room where the victim was, we thought we had a break, but after checking with the two paramedics, we found that the clues we found offered no help and even after using the ALS on the tile floor in the kitchen, we weren't able to find any footprints that didn't belong in the home. Running up against a dead end, I left everything on the table where it was and went down to the morgue to see if Doc Robbins had completed the post.

He wasn't there, but David was. "Super Dave? Doc finish the post on the homicide from Twin Hills?"

After looking through the stack of folders on his desk, David pulled out the one I needed, "COD was a strangulation. Broken hyoid bone in the victim's neck. Whoever did this to her knew how to do it without leaving any marks behind. Could have used something soft like a bathrobe tie or something similar. We haven't ALSed her for fingerprints around her neck. When Doc gets back, we'll check and I'll let you know." He started to hand me the folder, "So do I get a song, too, or is that just Mandy?"

Snatching the folder out of his hand before he had time to react, I shook my head, "Hell no. How'd you find out about that?"

"Who else?" David shrugged his shoulders, "Hodges."

I turned around and shoved the door to the morgue open, "Oh now he's really gonna get it."

I had been back in the lab I was in earlier, going over the victim's bank statements when Grissom found me, "David said you had already been downstairs and got the autopsy report?"

"Yeah." I dug the folder out from under a mountain of paperwork and handed it to him, "Strangulation. Super Dave said the hyoid bone was broken but there were no marks. They're waiting to do the ALS to check for fingerprints. Said Doc Robbins was on a call out."

"Anything in her financials?"

I shook my head, "Not really. Few purchases here and there might offer some leads. She did have to subscriptions to online dating services though. I'll have Archie see what he can do about getting into that laptop Catherine found to see if our vic had any emails. Strangulation is usually a crime of passion."

Grissom looked up from the folder, "Discovery Channel, right?"

I groaned, "No. You taught me that but you are a walking Discovery Channel most days."

He turned to leave the office but stopped, "Have Arch help you on pulling anything off of the computer and one more thing..."

"Yeah?"

"So does everyone in the lab get a song or is that just Mandy?"

"Oh hell no. Hodges is gonna die a slow and painful death for what he has done."

"Hodges?" Grissom was confused, "I heard that from David. He told me to ask you to sing to me."

"Doc Robbins is gonna be busy in the morgue." I reached over for another stack of credit card statements to go through, "Half the people in this lab are gonna get it tonight. I'm going to kill them. One night in their sleep, a slit throat maybe or a screwdriver to a temple. Be ready."

Grissom hid a smile as he said he was going down towards the morgue to check in on the results of the ALS with David.

Leaving the office I was in after Grissom left, I went to go find Hodges so we could have a Come to Jesus meeting. He was in his office with his back turned to me and I was able to sneak up on him. "Hodges!"

He jumped when I said his name, "Nick. You're looking well tonight." He saw I was upset with him and started to move away, "Do you think that when they asked George Washington for ID that he just whipped out a quarter?"

"Can the ham." I put my arm across his shoulders, "What's this I hear about you telling everyone about my deal with Mandy and the song?"

"Can I phone a friend?"

I tightened my grip on his shoulder, causing him to wince, "Knock it off, okay? That's a one time thing."

"Understood." As soon as I let go of his shoulder, Hodges took two steps back and put a chair between us, "So other than that, is there anything I can do for you other than let you crush vital internal organs or bones?"

"Glad you asked. Collected something that looked like blood in the carpet at my 419 in Twin Hills. Mandy said she kicked it to you." I cracked my knuckles, "Got any results?"

I had to keep from laughing as Hodges took another step back from me, "Cocktail sauce used primarily in shrimp." He held out the folder towards me, "I'm more of a red meat kind of guy but hey, whatever rubs your Buddah."

"Thanks." I left Hodges alone, much to his delight and headed back to find Grissom to tell him what I found.

After working the rest of the night with the statements, I had highlighted a few things for me to check next shift. Stretching as I tried to relieve the cramping in my back from being in the same position for three hours, I got up and shoved everything into the folder and left it in the evidence locker and got ready to head home, smiling because Anna had texted me a bit ago saying she got off work early and was waiting on me at home.

I had a few errands to run before I drove home. Stopping by Wal-Mart, I picked up dog food for Cassie and Draco and picked up a bag of food for the cat as well. After calling Anna to see if she needed anything, I wrapped up my shopping and went up front to the check stands.

As I waited, I saw a Sports Illustrated in the magazine stand and started to leaf through it. I had already read most of this issue at work and as I got ready to put it back in the bin, I saw a copy of Modern Bride. I tossed it in the cart for Anna to read through and hopefully get some ideas about our wedding.

I checked out and loaded everything in the back of my Tahoe and headed home. I figured Anna would be in the pool but to my surprise, she was stretched out on the couch with Danilla behind her, making bread on Anna's back. When the cat saw me, she hissed and ran off. "Maybe one day you'll like me."

"Mmmm. Who will like you?" Anna rolled over on her back and smiled, "I already do."

"I know you do. I meant the cat. She hisses whenever I come in the room."

"Nicky, she hates everyone but me. You need help?"

I shut the door with my foot and shook my head, "I got it. I have a couple more bags in the truck and that's it." I let the bag of dog food drop to the floor as Cassie and Draco came skidding to a stop in front of me. I petted both of the dogs and went back out to get the other bags plus the bag with the magazine in it. Danilla watched me make the trip between the carport and the kitchen before darting back in the living room. After my third trip, I came back in and put away what I bought before picking up the bag with the magazine in it and walked back to the living room where Anna was. "Present for you." I held out the sack with the bridal magazine in it. "You'll have to forgive the wrapping job."

"Well, it's not ticking." Anna took the sack from me and pulled the magazine out, "And you bought me a copy of 'Modern Bride' why exactly?"

I sat down on the couch next to Anna after moving Danilla to the back of the couch. She hissed at me again before running off towards the back of the house, "Figured you might need some ideas."

Anna started to flip through the magazine, "I'm all for a drive through wedding at one of the chapels here."

Remembering what my mother said to me, I smiled, "So would you like to explain to my mother why we didn't invite her or should I?"

"She can sit in the back seat of my Xterra." Anna laughed and put the magazine down, "Seriously, I don't care one way or another what we do. If you want to plan it, then go for it. I'm not picky." She leaned over and kissed me, "As long as you're the one I'm marrying."

"Well that was the plan. That's also why I got the magazine for you. I know on our way home from Texas you said jeans were fine, but I think you'll be happier if you have the white dress, the guests, the cake and everything."

"Twinkies."

I looked at Anna, "Excuse me?"

"Twinkies. I want Twinkies served at the reception. I don't want a cake." Anna smiled, "That part I have worked out already."

"It's official." I started to laugh again, "We have our first wedding detail worked out. Forget important things like a date or a location or finding suitable attire. My bride to be doesn't want a cake because she wants me to buy four dozen boxes of Twinkies. Now we just need to figure out the rest." I picked up the bridal magazine off of Anna's lap and waved it in front of her, "Which is why I bought this. According to Jillian, this is the bridal Bible."

Anna took the magazine out of my hands, "Is that a hint I take it? Something about setting a date and all that?"

"Yep. I'm still all for Valentine's Day. It's October now, so that's four months away."

Shaking her head, she let the magazine drop to her lap, "Uh, no. I have already told you not just no but hell to the n and o to that date. The chapels in Vegas are probably already booked solid for the next ten years and I'd like to be married before then." Anna folded her legs up under her and laid the magazine across her knees and began to flip through it, "When did your parents get married?"

"May tenth. Why?"

"What's wrong with that day?"

Anna caught me off guard, "You want to get married on my parents' anniversary?"

She nodded her head, "Why not? Think they'd mind?"

"Doubt it actually. I'm sure my mother would be thrilled considering that gives them enough advance warning. What about your family? You gonna invite your parents and sister?"

"I have to. They did bring me into this world. Now whether they show or not, who knows. Doubt if they do." Anna smiled, "Bryan's family on the other hand, well, they've cleared their calendar for the rest of the year. Bryan said his dad offered to walk me down the aisle."

"It's your wedding, hon. You do what you want." I knew talking about Anna's family pained her so I held on to her hand tighter, "So that's when you want to get married? In May?"

"Sure. Wedding, then both of our birthdays. Keeps things simple. Your parents can maybe stay here for, well, scratch that..."

"Scratch what?"

"I was thinking that your parents and sisters and brother could be here for your birthday, but I'm not having your family come along on our honeymoon."

I pulled Anna into my lap. She reached over and grabbed the magazine before leaning back into me, "Who says we have to go anywhere? We're already living together and we've already done it, so…"

Anna interrupted me, "Because I want a vacation. We need a vacation together. Just a few days or something away from everything. No cell phones, no email, no family members." Twisting around, she kissed me, "Just me and you. That's it."

Anna had her hair pulled back using a clip and I kissed the back of her neck, "It's your wedding. You just tell me when to show up."

"All of this just seems so surreal."

"Why?"

Anna shook her head, "This is a Pinter moment."

"A what?"

"It's a literary term." She smiled, "A moment where everything is said in silence because the emotion behind what we really want to say is just too overwhelming. I just never thought I'd be here." Anna looked up at me, "You know after everything that happened."

"I didn't get a chance to ask you this earlier when we had our conversation but was there anything I could have done to keep you from leaving Vegas?"

"At the time, no. There wasn't. I was not of sound mind."

"And that means? I left my decoder ring in the cereal box."

Anna smiled, "It means I had so much going on that I was so screwed up that not even electroshock therapy could have helped me. Do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"If I get like that again, and I'm sure hoping I never do...Next time, just chain me to my bed and wait for my moment of clarity to come."

I told Anna I would as I picked her up and carried her back to our room to go to sleep.

**A/N: Thanks so much everyone for the messages about my dog. She was 17.**

**I borrowed a scene from Happenstance and put it in my story. George Eads has said on a few of the DVD commentaries that he'd welcome another chance to sing to Mandy on the show. I just gave him one in my story.**


	27. Leave Out All the Rest

**Chapter 27 - Leave Out All the Rest**

**Two weeks later**

On my way to an arson case, I got stuck in traffic. Deciding to spend the time being productive, I called the chapel Anna wanted to use to check on reservations.

"Little Chapel of the Flowers. This is Olivia."

"Olivia, this is Nick Stokes. I'm with the Vegas Crime Lab."

"Yes sir, how can we help?"

I switched the phone to my other ear so I could hit the signal for a lane change with my left hand, "I need to check on a date to see what availabilities you have for my wedding."

"Certainly." I heard keys typing as Olivia checked, "What date did you need to check on?"

"May 10th."

After a moment of silence, she came back to the phone, "Now were you wanting a chapel with the web cam in it for the Internet broadcast?" I told her I was and after more keystrokes, she spoke again, "At this moment, we have four times available. We have one at ten in the morning, one at noon, one at three and one at six. Would one of these times work?"

"I'm sure one of them would but I'd need to ask my fiancée. It's her wedding and she's at work and I'm on my way to an arson call."

"I tell you what." Olivia went silent as she started typing again, "I'll block off all of the times for you. The Vegas CSIs have always been helpful to us and it's my pleasure to return the favor. Do you think a week is sufficient time for a decision or will you need longer?"

"I'm sure we'll have a decision in a couple of days. I'll call you back before the end of the week with a definite answer."

"Excellent and congratulations. My name is Olivia Jacobs. Just ask for me. I'm here Monday through Friday and I work the night shift."

I told her thank you and hung up the phone, smiling to myself at being one step closer to having an actual wedding planned out. My happiness was soon put on hold as I got closer to the scene. Slowing down once I got to the end of the cove, I saw the flashing lights of the emergency vehicles. "Damn." As I tried to find a place to park, I got a good look at the house. Half of it was gone with the other half heavily damaged by the fire.

After finding a place to park, I radioed into dispatch that I was on scene as I turned my truck off and started to walk up to the yellow crime tape that was strung out between a telephone pole and a side view mirror of an LVPD squad car. "Hey Mitch."

The seasoned officer returned my greeting as he lifted the tape, "Gil is already inside. You'll need to stop and talk to the IC with the fire department and check in."

"Thanks." I left him where he was and approached the incident commander's vehicle and got out my crime lab ID to show him. "Nick Stokes. I'm with the crime lab. I'm looking for..." I saw Grissom coming out of the burned house, "Never mind. I see him. Thanks."

I started to walk off when the incident commander I was talking to stopped me, "Hold it. You'll need this." I looked down and he handed me a yellow fire department helmet. "Engine crews are inside doing overhaul. Safety measure. Put it on and if one of us catches you without it, we'll bring you out and banish you from the scene." After he took the blue scene tag off the back of the helmet, I signed the log sheet he had and took the helmet from him as he continued, "Safety precaution only. Your friend over there was given the exact same lecture."

"Thanks." I adjusted the plastic sizing strap to fit my head and put it on. After putting my field kit down, I tightened the chin strap and snapped it. I had tried Anna's helmet on before and had forgotten how heavy it was until now. "Grissom?"

"Nick. According to what the police said, DB inside in the master bathroom. One of the engine crews found her when they were doing overhaul and had the unis call us. They didn't realize she might be related to the other case. Vega went in with Vartann and said it's all there. The flower, the card, everything. Catherine and Warrick are on their way here. Greg and Sara are at the lab going over evidence from the last case to see if there's a connection but until then, treat this as a separate case."

"We got an ID on this one?"

"Not yet." Grissom pointed towards a Ford Expedition parked in the driveway as we got closer to the house, "RO is Melissa Steel. She's a cocktail waitress at the MGM Grand. There's a parking permit and an ID badge inside the truck. Her prints should be on file. We'll have Robbins get hers at autopsy to see if it's her. Vega is running down the info to find out the owner of the home right now."

"I don't get it. Why up the ante?" I stepped inside what was once the front door with Grissom behind me. "He's gone from murder to murder and arson?" I turned around to see where Grissom went and saw that he had wandered off to the other side of the house and was interested in something on the ground. "What is it?" He didn't answer and I could tell by the look on his face that he was lost in thought.

"Aggie, I can only hope that in our lifetime, some day, science is gonna isolate and destroy the gene that makes people think it's okay to barbeque indoors."

"Oh come on Frog, why? That'd take away all our fun."

I recognized the voices as Anna and Bryan's and started to look to see if I could spot them after getting nothing out of Grissom. Looking over at a group of firemen, she was the only five foot tall person in firefighter turnouts and was easy to spot. "Anna?"

Anna was smiling as she turned around, wiping soot off her face, "Nick."

"Y'all catch this?"

Anna pushed the pike pole up in the ceiling, "Stand back and yeah." With one swift pull, a four foot section of ceiling and insulation fell to the ground. "Hot spot." She stepped back and brushed more soot off of her face but only succeeded in smearing it around, "We've been here a couple hours. One hell of a blaze. This whole side of the house was engulfed when we got here. This is a whole new level of tired for us. I can almost puke now. We've been running since you dropped me off yesterday."

"So CSI Man, Aggs tells me you set a date?" Bryan stopped the overhaul to look over at me. "When?"

"Yes. May 10th. Schedule clear that day?"

Bryan smiled, "It is now. I've already put in for my time off for that week and so has Cathy. One detail down, a million more to go."

"Nicky and I have two details worked out, thank you kindly."

"Oh really?" Bryan looked skeptical. "What? Day and your dress?"

"Three, hon." I stepped back again as Bryan pulled a chunk of the ceiling down, "Little Chapel of the Flowers has four openings that day. We just need to decide on a time. Since I am who I am and we've worked several cases for them, they're holding all four times for us until we decide."

"Nice." Bryan wiped soot off his face, but just like Anna, only succeeded in smearing it across his forehead, "What's the third detail? Got the dress or something?"

I smiled as Anna shook her head, "Nope. I want Twinkies served in lieu of a wedding cake."

"Aggie." Bryan let his pike pole hit the floor, "Seriously?"

She smiled, "Yep. It's my wedding and I want Twinkies."

Bryan started to protest at Anna's choice, "CSI Man? Please tell me you object to Aggie's culinary choice for her own wedding or I will on moral grounds since I am the honorary matron of honor."

I shook my head, "Oh no. I told Anna it's her wedding and she can have whatever she wants at the reception. The only detail I insisted on is that I'm the one she's marrying. Every other detail, that's hers and hers alone to work out."

"That won't be a problem." Anna jumped back as another chunk of the ceiling fell on its own. "Another hot spot."

I watched as a fireman I didn't know came over with a low pressure hose and doused the smoldering insulation, "Did one of you find the body?"

Anna shook her head, causing her red scene tag that was hanging off her helmet to hit the side of it, "Nope. My crew has been up here the whole time." She shoved the pike pole into another section of the ceiling and pulled down again, "I heard about it on the radio. I think Engine 17 caught it." Anna let the pike pole slide out of her hands until the bottom of it hit the concrete, "Where's 17?"

Someone answered that they were in the garage and I told Anna I'd check on her later and went to find Grissom and talk to one of the crew members that found the body.

By the time I found Grissom, he had already gotten the information on who found the body before I got back and told him. He was talking to the firemen on the engine Anna had told me about, "Where's the body?"

One of the firemen Grissom was talking to pointed over his shoulder, "Back of the house. Only part of the house not touched by the fire. We got here with Engine 44 and Ladder 7. 44 was doing hot spots with 7 downstairs and IC told us that we were headed in to do overhaul upstairs. We got up there and kicked the door in and saw the body." A piece of charred debris fell from the ceiling as he spoke, "And that's why you need a helmet. Anyway, we saw the body and called you guys. Watch your step. Floor is charred so try not to fall through."

Adjusting his own helmet, Grissom took a step back and put his foot on the bottom step, "We'll try not to but thanks for the warning. Any prelim on how or where it started?"

"Battalion chief said in the kitchen. Homeowner was cooking. Looks like a grease fire but that's why you're here, right?"

"Partially." Grissom and I left him where he was as we took the stairs one at a time, being careful as we went. The stair railing was gone and the wooden steps were wet from the fire and littered with debris. As we made our way upstairs to where the body was, I saw that part of the ceiling had collapsed on the east end of the house. "We need to get the coroner in here now before this whole house goes."

Getting no argument out of me, I went to work. Grissom had his camera out and was taking pictures as we walked, "David's on his way. Fire department will send him in. Until then, you know the drill."

"Yeah." I moved around Grissom as he stopped to scrape something off of the door leading into the bedroom. The windows in the room had melted and warped like putty. Turning to my left, the master bathroom and the victim came into view. "Grissom? Found her." As I moved a splintered piece of wood from the doorway out of my way with my foot, I immediately saw the tulip with the yellow satin ribbon. "You're number two."

"We don't know that yet, Nick."

"Oh come on, Griss. Look at her. Same flower. Same card. If this isn't related to the first, then who is it? You gonna tell me it's not the same as Carol Kirby?"

"You're a grown man, Nick. Stop whining."

I looked at Grissom to argue that I wasn't whining but his attention was turned to something on the floor and he wouldn't have heard me anyway. I heard a siren outside and looked out the window and saw Anna's engine company leaving the scene of the crime we were at.

Grissom and I started in processing around the woman's body until David came and got her and told us Doc Robbins would be working on the post by the time we got done here.

We spent the rest of the shift with Warrick and Catherine processing the house. Just the same as before, we found a single wine glass in the dishwasher. Warrick bagged it and took it back with him to the lab. The fire destroyed most everything downstairs and the water used to douse the flames destroyed everything upstairs. I found a piece of a broken mirror near the body with a partial print on it. After photographing that shard and lifting the print, I was beginning to feel frustrated as I headed back to the lab to finish up.

After getting back to the lab, Vega verified that the owner of the home was Reactive Solutions, the same company the other victim rented from. The renter of the home was the same as the Ford Expedition in the driveway. Catherine and Greg processed the truck, finding little evidence in it other than a business card for Reactive Solutions.

Finally getting to the end of my shift, I shoved everything back into the box and took it to the evidence locker. After stopping by my locker and grabbing my keys to both my Tahoe and my truck, I headed to the fire station to pick up Anna. I needed her to take my truck back home. I had been in town running errands when I got paged to come in for another case from earlier and left my truck at the lab and caught a ride with Grissom. After leaving there, he took me home to get my Tahoe. Since I needed to get my truck home, I brought Anna in to work two days ago after she said she'd bring my Tundra home.

As I left the lab, I saw the clock on the wall above the exit. It was just before six in the morning. Anna still had another hour to go on her shift, but I hadn't been by lately and I knew Anna had said Bryan missed me.

I got to the station and parked and Bryan let me in, "CSI Man. Welcome back." He left me standing in the doorway of the station, "Sorry to be rude but we're playing Doom."

"Figures." I shook my head, "Where's Anna?"

Bryan motioned over his shoulder, "She was asleep. We've been hella busy today. We all fell asleep when we got back from that field fire but she's still out for the count and probably will be until our relief clocks in." I watched for a moment after he got silent so he could maneuver his character through a maze of trees, "Oh, manners. CSI Man, this is Paul Craig and Andrew Pittman also known as Nitro and Torch respectively. You two, this is CSI Man, Aggie's fiancée."

"Just the four of you? Isn't there supposed to be more?"

"Yeah, but you just missed the ambulance crew. Guess if they miss breakfast, sucks to be them. They've eaten everything while Aggs and I have been out on a run before."

The two of them didn't even look up because of the game but did wave over their shoulders with one hand, keeping the other hand on the controllers they were holding, "Upon reflection I imagine I'm pleased to meet you both. Anna is where?"

"Down the hall, third door on your right. Tell her breakfast is almost ready and we have to eat it all before Storm and Trunk Monkey get back. The highly experimental sausage casserole is about done then I'll scramble the eggs." Bryan finally looked up when he got to the end of the forest, "I'll leave the waking up part to you. We usually use ice water and an air horn."

"I don't want to know." I left Bryan playing Doom with Paul and Andrew and stopped at the third door. The sign on the door read ' _I am a closet.'_ Hiding a smile, I called out to Bryan, "You keep Anna in a closet?"

From the living area, he answered, "The other right, CSI Man."

"I am looking right."

"Sorry. I meant the left. Bonsai!"

"Nice shot, Frog!"

I looked back in time to see Paul's exclamation of Bryan's alien kill as I shook my head and opened the door and saw Anna stretched out on the bed. She had clipped the clear plastic clip that she had in her hair earlier to the lamp on the stand next to the bed and had one leg sticking out from under the covers. The way she was sleeping, her face was covered by her hair and her slow, steady breathing meant she was sleeping peacefully. I sat on the edge of the bed and brushed it out of her face.

"Mmmm." Anna yawned and rolled over. "Nicky."

"Sleeping long?"

She yawned again and stretched out while shaking her head as she brought her arm up to check the time, "Few hours. We left that arson call out and caught a field fire and were there for a bit before we came back and caught an alarm fire at the Luxor. All of us fell asleep after we got done." Anna kicked the covers off of her and sat up as she shook her hair out of her face, "Long day so far."

"That fire look like a barking cat to you?"

Anna yawned again, "Which one? I think we've been on a dozen calls in the past two days. You're gonna have to be a little more specific than that for me to figure out which one you're talking about."

"The arson."

"Yeah, sort of. Why?"

"Well, the Gemini murder in the back was a sign to us."

"Another? Engine 17 said it was a body but said nothing about a Gemini."

"They wouldn't have known about it being a Gemini. Same MO as the others. Single tulip with the satin ribbon and the Gemini symbol on a plain white business card, but Grissom doesn't want to call it another Gemini just yet. The bathroom door being shut helped save some of the evidence, but there wasn't much. Whoever this is, they're good. The last murder we didn't find anything. Not a single hair or a fiber or anything usable and the prints we got off that glass were unknown. If there was any evidence other than the tiny amount we got at this crime scene, the fire destroyed it or the water washed it away. Catherine found a few stray hairs in the victim's truck, but that's it." I reached over and tucked a stray strand of hair behind Anna's left ear as I gently kissed her forehead, "This is frustrating. You ready to go yet?"

"Yeah I am if the other crew checked in service. We can't leave until they take over the reins from us."

Anna stood up as I kissed her, "Hungry? Want to stop for breakfast?"

"Bryan should be cooking. It's his turn and you're welcome to stay and eat with us since you're an honorary fireman and all."

I remembered what Bryan had told me when I came in and asked about where Anna was, "Yeah, he told me to tell you that the highly experimental sausage casserole was almost ready. Do I want to know?"

"It's a recipe that we've used here forever. It's harmless." After Anna put her boots back on and stuffed her dirty shirts in her duty bag, she kissed me again and we went up front. Bryan and Paul were still playing Doom while Andrew had gone in the kitchen. When Anna sat down, Bryan handed her his controller so he could finish up. "What's for breakfast other than the casserole?"

Bryan ignored Anna's question, "So let's get on to the $517 question. That's the deep discount, end of the model year recession price for the $1,000,000 question. Oh, and I had a $20-off coupon. What time is the wedding?"

Anna shook her head, "Nicky and I haven't decided yet. You're cooking what?"

"It's morning. I'm making breakfast."

"Smells good." My stomach growled as I smelled the bacon Bryan had in the skillet.

Anna looked at Bryan as she yawned, "Breakfast?"

Bryan wiped his hands on his uniform pants, "Yeah, you know in the morning when one of us cooks something that shoots out of a chicken's ass and we even have a drink that comes from fruits picked off trees that have the same name for the color and the fruit. Stuff your body digests and..."

"Bryan, I know what breakfast is. Why are you cooking? It's my turn to cook and your turn to do the dishes and before you argue, Paul cooked last night and Andrew cleaned up."

"What if I promise to cook and do the dishes later? Consider it a wedding present from us."

Anna put her controller down when she noticed Bryan reaching in the pantry for the paper plates, "Frog, you're reaching for paper plates."

"I know that. That's why I volunteered to cook and do the dishes for you. Now come on. My highly experimental sausage casserole is done as are the eggs, biscuits, bacon and gravy. Come and get it before Medic 68 gets back."

Anna took my hand in hers and led me into the kitchen with Paul and Andrew behind us, "Smells good." When Bryan started to dig in, Anna stopped him, "Ahem, guests first then ladies next. I know you have manners when you want to use them."

Bryan looked over at me as I dropped Anna's hand and went to scoop some of the casserole on my plate, "Oh hell, Aggs. He's here too much to be considered a guest. I'm sure Torch and Nitro agree."

I didn't give anyone a chance to argue, "Thanks, Bryan. Feeling the love." Anna followed me in getting breakfast and after setting her plate down, poured glasses of juice for everyone.

We ate in silence until Bryan started in on me again, "So CSI Man, we need to finish that conversation from earlier about the wedding. What times are available? We never got that far."

Anna let her fork hit the table, "Frog, really? Did you not stop and think that Nick and I may want to talk about this alone without outside help?"

"Inquiring minds want to know, Aggie." He turned to Paul and Andrew, "Right?" They nodded in agreement and Bryan looked smug, "So when? We're all gonna be there so might as well find out now so we can all be on time." He turned to face me, "CSI Man? When?"

"There is one at ten in the morning, one at noon, one at three and one at six. I planned on talking this over with Anna."

"I vote for three." Bryan took another bite of his breakfast, "Still light and you can get some great photos outside. Plus I look a lot better in the afternoon sun."

Anna groaned, "Not touching that one."

"Thank you, Anna." I shook my head at Bryan, "And now would the real Anna answer if she wants?"

With her mouth full of food, Anna swallowed as she held up three fingers. Reaching for her juice glass, she took a drink before continuing, "I was thinking four in the afternoon, but three is close enough. When does she need to know?"

"Lookie here. We have what? Four details worked out. Twinkies, the chapel, the date and time." Bryan raised his juice glass, "A toast." The rest of us followed suit as Bryan started in, "To Aggie and CSI Man. Take care of my best friend or I'll kick your ass."

Anna started laughing, "Remind me not to have you make any toasts at the wedding."

Bryan took a drink of his juice before leaning over and hugging Anna, "I may not be a Rhodes scholar but if you give me a road map and a remote, I can probably find my way to the Discovery Channel and back and I can definitely kick CSI Man's ass if he doesn't take care of you."

Anna laughed as Bryan let her go, "True, but he can make it look like an accident."

"Anna!" I coughed after I choked on my juice as I was finishing the glass, "Um there are witnesses." After I finally quit coughing I was able to finish, "Bryan, you have nothing to worry about. She knows I'll take care of her."

"Good." He took the last bite of his breakfast before he took his plate as well as Paul's and Anna's from the table, "Cause I can and will kick your ass."

**You know what you're supposed to do now…Review!**


	28. If You Only Knew

**Chapter 28 – If You Only Knew**

**To everyone who has favorited this story or added it to their alerts: Thank you so much. Lots of love and stuff. Now how bout some reviews from some of you? (Smile)**

**This is gonna be a long chapter. Be warned.**

**Three weeks later. It's now mid November and is almost Thanksgiving**

" _Plant a seed, plant a flower, plant a rose. You can plant any one of those. Keep planting to find out which one grows. It's a secret no one knows. It's a secret no one knows, no one knows. Mmm bop..."_

Reaching into the darkness for my ringing phone, I managed to knock a bottle of Anna's lotion off the night stand. It bounced to the floor and hit Cassie who jumped up, causing Draco to jump up and start barking. Danilla arched her back and looked at me before hissing and running off. "Now I know why you hate me." Anna's ring tone was still going off with the backlight from the display providing just enough light to watch the show in the bedroom. I shushed the dogs and after finally finding the phone, I shut my eyes to shield them from the light of the phone's display, "Anna?"

"Hey CSI Man. You're close. It's her work husband."

"Bryan. Why are you using Anna's phone?"

"I'll explain in a minute. Did I wake you up?"

I pulled the phone away from my ear and checked the time, "Sorta. What's up? Where's Anna?"

"I'm not sure anything is. I just thought I'd let you know what happened earlier with Aggie."

"What?" I threw the covers off of me and stretched, "Is something wrong with Anna? You're on her phone."

"Well..."

My heart sank in my chest, "Bryan. What? How bad is she hurt? What hospital is she at?"

"Oh, no. Aggie is fine in that aspect. She's not hurt as in injured and at the hospital or dead or anything. I, well, I may be over reacting here but our engine company had a fire run over at your old apartment complex a little bit ago."

"Damn." I didn't even bother to take a shower. I was getting dressed for work now, "Where's Anna? How is she? What happened? Sit on her. Stuff her in a locker after you sedate her if you have to. Just don't let her leave."

"CSI Man, she's here with Bandit and me watching the Sharks game on TV and doesn't know I'm calling you. I got her phone out of her room while she was busy. I'm outside and away from everyone. Long story short, we had a fire run and went in, put the kitchen fire out and we left. I pulled Aggie aside after we got back and she swore she was fine but I just thought you should know. I've asked her several times since then if she was okay and she kept telling me she was and told me the last time I asked her that if I asked her again she'd smack me." Bryan stopped when he sighed, "I know you can't go through what happened before again and neither can I. Can you stop and check on her before work? I can B52 her if need be."

"You can put her on a war plane?"

Bryan laughed, "A B52 is a shot of Haldol and Ativan. It'll knock her out or I can Propofol her if need be. It's another sedative."

"Only if she leaves." I pulled my shirt over my head and pulled the closet door open to grab my boots, "I'm on my way now." I snapped the phone shut and tossed it on the bed before heading to the bathroom to shave and brush my teeth.

After breaking the speed limit from Summerlin to Vegas, I pulled in front of the fire department to see Anna before my shift started. One of the firemen was outside checking one of the trucks and told me she was inside and was in the shower after having gotten back from yet another fire run. He opened the door for me and went back to his inspection.

When I got to the hall off to the side of the common area, I saw Anna in the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her head as she and Bryan were talking to someone I didn't recognize. Two other firemen were at a table and were in the middle of a chess match. I didn't want to confront Anna about what Bryan had told me until I got her alone. "Something other than Doom?" My eyes were diverted to a man coming out of the closet in the hallway. He walked by us and went to the refrigerator and got a drink before he headed back inside the closet. "Um…"

Anna glanced over her shoulder where I was looking, "That's Lance. We keep him in a closet."

"You keep your co-workers in a closet and you're playing chess?" I watched as one of the firemen made a move and hit the timer on the side of the table, "Did I miss something?"

"We gave up on the Sharks game. They suck right now." Anna smiled, "You're early."

Bryan didn't give me a chance to answer, "What CSI Man? You think this is strange?"

I shook my head, "I just want to make sure this isn't some manic stage before y'all shave your heads and start shooting at planes."

Anna laughed as she pulled the clear plastic clip that she had on the sleeve of her work shirt off and started to twist her damp hair back behind her head, "Lance was probably on a phone call. That closet is pretty roomy actually." She put the clip in place, successfully keeping her hair out of her face, "We were watching the Sharks game but they're losing so we got bored and turned it off. Our Xbox is broken and we are resorting back to the olden days of entertaining ourselves without it. One of the guys on the next shift is bringing his up here for us to use until we can convince the city to buy us a new one." She left everyone where they were and took me into the common area, "You're here early." Anna checked her watch, "You've got a few hours before shift. What's wrong?"

I took Anna's hand and led her outside into the front yard of the station. There was a plastic porch swing on the east end of the building, centered in a flower garden. "How are you?"

"Um…" Anna sat down on the swing and turned to face me after I sat down next to her, "I'm fine, Nick. How are you?"

"Bryan told me." I pulled Anna into a hug, "I'm so sorry, honey. I am so, so sorry."

"About our Xbox being broken?"

"No."

"About the Sharks losing? Nicky, it's not even mid season. They'll turn it around."

"No, no…" I let Anna go and caught her eyes, "The apartment fire earlier. Bryan called and told me."

I could tell by the look she was giving me that she was clearly confused, "Um, okay. CSI gonna investigate because a woman put a sack full of groceries down on a stove that was on and it caught her apartment on fire? Why did he call you? That's the captain's job. God save us all if Bryan gets promoted to captain."

"No. Work with me here, hon." I shook my head and hugged Anna again, "Because of where it was. Bryan called me to let me know what was going on. He said it was at my old complex and he was worried about you."

"Nicky, I'm…"

I cut her off, "I know you probably had bad memories about what was going on and I'm just so sorry. So very sorry, but I'm here now and I wanted to make sure you were okay. I can't handle losing you again. Just give me the bottom line. Give me the truth, straight up, no chasers. How are you? Do we need to go somewhere together for a few days or something?"

"Can I speak now?" After I said yes, Anna folded her arms across her chest as she leaned against the chain holding the swing to the frame, "I'm fine and I'm not leaving except in about twelve hours when my shift is done. Then I'm going home, to our home, where I will wait on you."

"So you're…"

Anna sighed, "Fine. I didn't even realize where we were until we pulled into the complex. I didn't hear the address when we got the call. Our driver got the address. Bryan, Lance and I were too busy getting our gear on at the station as we were leaving. I had a moment in the back of the engine when I passed our old building, but my training kicked in and I did my job and we left. I didn't stand in the middle of the parking lot, drooling like a blithering idiot or anything." She leaned over and kissed me, "I am fine. I promise you, I'm just fine. Bryan should have never called you. He got you all worked up over nothing."

"I'm glad he did. Were you planning on telling me about the fire?"

"Yeah. I was when I saw you." Anna planted her foot under the swing and started to rock back and forth on her end of the swing. Seeing that as my cue, I moved towards the middle of the swing so Anna could lean against me. She did and I started to rock us both in the swing as she continued, "Nicky, I'm not that person I was. I was a scared, insane wreck. I'm not that person anymore. If I had to go another hundred years without having to step foot on that property, that'd be fine with me but we got a call and I had to go. It's in my area. If you're worried about me leaving again, I'm not going anywhere. I told you when you came to see me at my sister's that I was sorry for what I had done to you and I'd never leave you. I told you I'd marry you and I meant that. Bryan should have never called to warn you about what happened. He thought I was downplaying what was going on in my head with the call and where it was and there wasn't anything going on then and there's nothing going on now."

"Anna, I'm just worried about you. I haven't had a call back to that building since all of that happened and I'm not sure I could handle going. I'd hand the assignment off to someone else. I'm just not sure I could face going back to that complex, knowing what happened to you and how you almost died on me there."

She turned around and kissed me again, letting her fingertips trace down from where she had them on my neck, across my cheek and down to my lips, "I'm fine. I promise you. I'm totally fine. It wasn't easy for me to go back, but I had to. Once I got inside and was doing my job, I forgot about what happened. I was so focused on what was going on, that it wasn't until I got outside and started to help roll the hoses that I saw your building a second time. I felt something twinge and shook it off. We got back to the station and I took a shower and then you stopped by. Did you reserve the chapel time?"

"Way to deflect but yes, I did. We are all set for May 10th at three in the afternoon. My parents and sisters will be here. My brother is requesting the time off today but he won't know until next week if he got it or not but told me it shouldn't be a problem." I moved my foot and started to swing again, "What about your family?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders "I don't know. I told them. I called my parents. They were curt and to the point, offering little in the way of congratulations or support. My sister didn't answer the phone. I left her a message asking her to call me and she hasn't yet. I know my parents told her so I guess that's her answer on coming." After looking up at the night sky for a moment, Anna continued, "I asked my dad to give me away. You want to know what he said?"

I took one of Anna's hands in mine, knowing that what she was about to tell me was far from good news, "What?"

"He said 'I'll have to see if I can get the time off.' His youngest daughter is getting married and his reply was that? He must really hate me. I've known the only reason I was in my sister's wedding was because she was my sister, but really?"

Kissing the back of Anna's neck, I didn't quite know how to respond, "Well, you have my brother and Bryan, right? I'm sure someone would oblige you and didn't Bryan's dad volunteer?"

Even though we were still outside, Anna kept her head down, trying to hide the fact she was crying at work, "Yeah and I am closer to Bryan's dad than my own dad but still. Nicky, he's my father and he basically told me no."

It broke my heart to see Anna's own family hurt her like this. My family was hurt by my decision to move to Vegas but they accepted it. Anna had been gone from Arkansas a while but her parents and sister still held a grudge. I learned that the hard way when I went to pick her up, "Hon, if I have to, I'll get the undersheriff to walk you down the aisle or have an Elvis lookalike do it. You can do that pelvis walk Elvis did down the aisle or what about one of our horses? I can see you riding down the aisle."

Anna started laughing as she turned around, "And that is why I love you. You're always the positive one. You're the definition of the best thing to ever happen to me. You're the reason I get through life when it's a total mess. As much as you deny it, you're the quiet hero. You're good at stepping in at the right time, lending your efforts, never asking for a reward in return."

"Thank you and I love you, too." I kissed Anna as I got ready to change the subject, "I figured you'd ask me about the wedding chapel by now."

"I was getting there, but can we go back in? I'm about to freeze and it's about to storm."

"Storm?" I looked up at the sky but it was too dark to see anything.

"Yeah, it's a weather phenomenon that happens. You know? The skies gray and rain falls." Almost as if it was on cue, a clap of thunder rumbled in the distance, "Oh, and that happens during a storm also and I swear I didn't plan that."

"I'd be worried if you did." I looked at Anna who was in her short sleeved dark navy blue LVFD shirt with her black BDU pants, "And your coat is where?" I stood up and held my hands out to her. She took them and pulled herself up. "Did you forget it gets chilly this time of year here?"

"Coat is at home. I didn't grab it but I will next shift. I'll be back on the ambulance and not wearing my turnouts when we get a call which kinda makes a coat about as useful as a screen door on a submarine." Anna took my hand and lead me back inside through the same door we just exited out through, "I think the initiation is about to begin."

"The what?"

Anna smiled, "You'll see."

When we got inside, everyone was in the kitchen. Bryan was standing off to one side with another fireman I didn't recognize, "But you said I could lead." The new fireman was pleading with Bryan about something. "You told me it was my turn."

Bryan started laughing, "I know I said you could lead, but I didn't say I'd follow."

I cleared my throat, "Do I even want to know?"

"CSI Man, welcome back. I was just about to come get you. You're just in time to see this new probie undergo his mandatory fire department initiation ritual. You can be our impartial arbitrator witness."

I looked over at Anna, "For what?"

"Nick Stokes, this is Steven Boucher. Steve, this is my fiancée, Nick Stokes." I held out my hand and shook Steve's as Anna took her spot next to me. "Steve is our fresh meat."

"Excuse me?

"He's our probationary fireman. He has to complete his initiation before he can get his first paycheck." Bryan smiled, "And don't think we don't have it in with HR."

I was watching both Bryan and Anna, trying to figure out what they were talking about, "And that is?"

Bryan held up a bottle of hot sauce before tossing it to Steve, "Bottom's up, Probie."

Steve looked at Bryan, trying to decide if he was serious or not. "Drink that?"

After reaching in the cabinet behind where Anna and I were standing, Bryan unscrewed the top on a bottle of hot sauce and prepared to take a drink. "Bottom's up, Probie."

I watched Anna shake her head as Bryan downed the whole bottle of hot sauce. He slammed the empty bottle down on the counter and let out a gasp. "Whew. I still got it." He shook his head and wiped his mouth. "Your turn, Probie. Do it."

"Any advice I should know before doing this?"

"Yeah." Bryan picked the bottle up and handed it to him, "Having a good sense of humor and a poor sense of smell is always good in this job. Now drink."

Steve looked at the bottle again as he took it from Bryan, "Cheers." In one movement, he broke the seal off the bottle and took one drink before he started coughing. "Damn." As I watched him try to gag it down, I realized that Bryan never took off a safety seal on his bottle but Steve did. "How did you do that?"

"Like this." Anna reached in the cupboard behind us and got out another bottle of hot sauce when Steve stopped drinking. "Oh, come on. It's not that hard. Watch and learn, grasshopper." Like Bryan's bottle, Anna's bottle didn't have a safety seal on it either. She unscrewed the cap and finished her bottle in about the same time Bryan did it. "Nothing to it, Probie. Bottom's up or you'll never hear the end of it."

Anna, Bryan and I watched as Steve managed to choke down half the bottle. After cursing a few times, the rest of the fire department was standing behind Anna and me, egging the new guy on. "Done!" He proudly slammed the glass bottle down on the counter. "Jesus, next time I'll do the underwear thing." He shoved his chair back and got a bottle of water out of the fridge. I laughed to myself as he downed the water before he took off to the bathroom with the other four department members laughing the whole way as they followed him out.

"Ah, I love probie hazings." Bryan laughed and left Anna and me in the kitchen.

"Lot better than what y'all did to me. He got off easy considering what I had to do for a month." Anna smacked him in the back of the shoulder as he walked by. "As the station's master of the bull poo, either you're going soft in your old age or you're losing your creativity." Bryan didn't say anything as he left the kitchen to go check on the new guy, "Not what I expected him to make Steve do. He'll get his station nickname now and that's what any new hire wants."

"I want to know what they did to you for your hazing. Aside from which, isn't hazing illegal?"

"It's not really hazing. He'd still be a member of the department whether he drank that stuff or not. Aside from which, you've told me the stories of frat hazings you went through for college. What was the story about the trout and the Corn Flakes stuck to your head?"

"I can't believe you remember that." I had told Anna the story about having to walk around with a fish in the pocket of my shorts for a week as part of frat hazings and waking up after a party on the front lawn of the house we lived in with a box of Corn Flakes stuck to my head. "Touché. Point taken. I'll shut up now."

"Figures." Anna started to smile as she remembered, "As for what they did to me, I started a month or so before Christmas. Every shift, I had to dress up as a Christmas character. One shift I was Rudolph, complete with felt antlers and plastic red nose. The next I was an elf then I was a Christmas tree with working lights and for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I was Mrs. Claus and Bryan was Santa." Anna laughed again, "I got some strange looks pulling up to a scene dressed in a blinking Christmas tree costume while wearing pointy shoes but everyone else had on their LVFD uniforms."

"I would have paid to see that." Anna had explained one mystery, but not the mystery of the hot sauce and I had to know. I knew she was a strong woman, but I had never seen anyone do that before. "Okay. I know you're talented, but how? I can't take more than a shake or two of that before I'm like that cartoon character with the smoke coming out of my ears."

"You tell anyone this and I'll make it look like an accident." I watched as Anna pulled another bottle of hot sauce out of the cabinet. "You happen to notice that the bottle we gave Steve was new? He took the seal off while Bryan and I didn't?"

"Yeah I caught that part."

Anna handed me a bottle out of the cabinet behind her after I stood up and followed her to where she was standing, "Drink."

"Hell no." I started to hand the bottle back to her.

"Nicky, just trust me. One drink."

Going against what my head was saying, I obliged. I shut my eyes and took a quick drink and it didn't register on me what it was at first. "I don't get it."

"Station secret." Anna took the bottle from me and took a long drink before handing it back to me. "The bottles Bryan and I drank were these. We switched the hot sauce for tomato juice. Looks the same. Same color and consistency without all the side effects like the burning mouth or the bubonic ass plague later on. The bottle Steve drank was real hot sauce. Normally, the probie would back down and wouldn't do it and we'd tell them, but with Steve, he wasn't backing down which made it even better. His brother is a medic over across town at station 22. He's got the family name on the line if he didn't finish this task."

"I'll have to keep that one in mind for someone at the lab. "I pulled my arm up to check the time, "I gotta go but before I do, you promise me you're okay?"

"Nicky, I'm fine. I promise you. I'm just fine."

"Call me if something happens and you need to talk or anything. Promise me you will." Anna said she would as I leaned in to kiss her, "I love you." I leaned down to kiss her again as she followed me outside, "I'll call you later if I get a chance but if anything happens with you and you need to talk, call me or if I don't answer, call dispatch and have them get a message to me. I mean it."

"Nick, I'm fine." Anna returned the kiss, "You know where I'll be until tomorrow morning and then guess what."

I shoved the door to the station open and Anna followed me out, keeping the door propped open with her boot, "I give up. What?"

"For a CSI you sure aren't very quizzical. Cathy has been dying to take me to this bridal shop just off the strip. She's convinced she saw the perfect wedding dress for me there and has been begging me to try it on since we got back from Texas. I figured I'd finally oblige her."

Smiling as I watched Anna's expression, I pulled her into a hug, "I'll want to see it."

"You will. On May 10th as I'm being escorted down the aisle by Bryan's dad or Bryan or whoever I pick."

"Spoil sport."

Anna pulled away from the hug, "It's bad juju for you to see my dress before the big date, so don't even. You'll see it soon enough."

I told Anna I'd talk to her later and left her where she was and headed to the lab to start my shift. Parking my truck, I grabbed my phone and keys and went inside. I hadn't been inside a minute before Hodges stopped me needing something. I left him and hurriedly started to walk towards the conference room, "Nick?"

"Yeah, Mandy?" I hadn't even gotten to the conference room to start my shift yet and people were already stopping me. Hodges stopped me in the hall on my way in and told me to stop by later and now Mandy was stopping me.

She handed me a report, "I dusted that business card you gave me that Catherine found at Melissa Steel's house inside her car. I did get a print off of it, but not in the system. I went on and put it in AFIS just in case. Could you give this to her? I know you're about to head into briefing or whatever it is you call it and I'm swamped from swing."

"Yeah. I'll let her know." I left her and continued towards the conference room and hoped I wouldn't get stopped again or I'd be late.

Greg and I got assigned to a robbery case at a gas station. We were there a couple hours and had gathered all the evidence we could find and headed back to the lab to start processing. It was a slow night apparently as Catherine and Warrick were in one of the labs finishing up on their case. I had just sat down in one of the labs, waiting on Mandy to get back to me with fingerprint results when Grissom came in, but didn't bother to sit down. He stood at the door as he held it open with his left hand, "Alright, just got a call from Ecklie. He's pulling everyone off what we're doing now and going to the scene of that MVA on the highway about an hour ago that swing is working. Crash is out east of Summerlin in Greensfield. Vegas PD and FD have been called in for mutual aid. Bus crash versus dump truck versus small passenger car. Multiple fire departments are on the scene and they've requested all the help they can get. Last victim count was fifty plus. Everyone here needs to help when they can, where they can but don't get in the way of life saving. All of you, let's go."

About an hour after Grissom's announcement, Greg, Catherine and I were pulling up to the scene. To save time, the three of us rode together. Grissom, Sara and Warrick pulled in behind us. It was almost an hour's drive from the lab to the small town we were in, but with us breaking the speed limit nearly the whole ride there, we managed to make it to the small town of Greensfield in about half an hour.

"Damn. No wonder they needed the help." Greensfield had their own paid fire departments and police department, but they were not equipped to handle a catastrophe of this magnitude. As I looked around the scene, I got my first look at the crash. The guard railing was gone on the left side of the road. Skid marks were all over the highway and debris from the cars started where the crime scene tape was strung. As the three of us were walking to the scene, I counted four ambulances and six fire trucks from the Las Vegas Fire Department as well as ten ambulances from three other departments, including two from Greensfield FD, two makeshift heliports marked off by road flares for the Angel Rescue choppers to land and over a dozen fire trucks from four cities that were nearby.

"What happened?"

I turned to watch as Greg was wide-eyed and looking around, trying to make sense of the situation. "This is catastrophic." He continued to slowly turn as he took everything in. "It's just...damn."

"This is your first time on the highway?" Greg hadn't been a CSI for long, but I knew that this was probably one of the worst wrecks we had all seen. "You gonna be able to handle this?"

"Yeah I can handle this and no, it's not really my first time out this way. I've been out here before, but this is…" He couldn't finish his statement.

Warrick picked up his field kit and started to walk under the crime scene tape, "Get used to it. Kids come out here, then drive 7000 miles an hour, trying to beat curfew to get back home. They don't care who gets in their way as long as they get home before mommy and daddy get mad."

"You're here." I turned my head behind us where the voice was coming from. A man in fire department turns outs was coming up behind Grissom. "Gil, thank you for doing this. Tell Ecklie I said thanks." He turned his attention away long enough to yell at us to make a path as two of the medics that were on the scene ran by us and to the areas marked off by flares. They hastily loaded an injured victim into the waiting helicopter before running back into the scene. The fireman apparently forgot we were here until he watched as the medics ran by again. "Short story, bus crash was caused by a speeding Nissan Maxima. The driver of the Maxima was a DOA as was his passenger. From what we heard from some of the witnesses, the Maxima was trying to pass on a double yellow and didn't see an oncoming dump truck. The Maxima cut over in front of the bus, cutting off the driver and sending the bus into the back of the Maxima, spinning the car around and into the dump truck's lane as well as several other cars in the vicinity of the highway. This is one huge mess. The bus driver was one of the DOAs. The fog we had earlier didn't help. We had a massive pileup behind that with over ten cars. Another four DOAs in that. We've got help from several departments, plus ours, and not to mention all three Angel Rescue choppers are here plus we got two more on their way from Northern Clark County Air Rescue. I'm the battalion chief on scene. Just help out in any way you can. Don't get in the medics' way and just do what you can."

I watched as the battalion chief took off running in the opposite direction from where we came from, leaving us standing at the edge of the chaos. "Well, let's do what we can." Grissom took a deep breath and lifted up the yellow tape barricade that was crudely stretched a cross the highway between two patrol cars. Grissom and Sara took off towards the northern most area of the crash. Catherine left heading east of where we were. Warrick was already under the tape and held it up for Greg and me as we started walking straight ahead.

As we passed towards the center of the scene, I could see the tarps laid out for the makeshift triage areas. I had to turn my head to keep from looking at the probably two dozen bodies that were on the black tarp. The coroner's office was going to be swamped from this scene alone.

"Help me. Please." I looked in front of me to see a woman in a ripped blue dress running straight towards me. "My son. I can't find him. Please. Help me."

I froze momentarily as I looked at the tag on the lady's neck. She had already been triaged and was tagged yellow, which was one level below critical. The crudely written note on her tag was head trauma from the bus crash and underneath that in smaller letters was ' _1 dxsn.'_ I grimaced at knowing that meant the son she was looking for didn't survive the crash. "Ma'am, you need to stay back on that tarp. The ambulances are coming to get you as soon as they can." I looked up in time to see Anna and a medic I didn't know running by me. Anna had what appeared to be a young child in her arms and the medic she was running with had another child. I stopped and watched as she ran underneath the yellow tape and handed the kid off to one of the helicopter pilots before stopping to direct someone back over to the tarps. "Anna?"

Anna stopped in her tracks and turned around, "God, Nick. I didn't even know you were here. What have you been assigned to? We're j…" She stopped mid sentence when another paramedic from Greensfield FD ran by her. "Rabbit! I said he gets to go next…" She trailed off as she ran by Warrick, Greg and me and yanked another child out of his arms. She ran back by me once again to get another child she was working on as she handed off that child to the medic in the helicopter before coming back to me again. "Talk about trial by fire. What have the two of you been assigned to do?"

"Nothing. We just got here. Where do you need us?"

Anna didn't say anything and instead, took off running again after someone started yelling for a medic. I didn't know what else to do so Greg, Warrick and I followed her until she got to the overturned bus. "Damn it." I saw Anna reach down for something in the kit next to her feet. It wasn't until she stood up that I saw her tossing a black triage tag on top of an older man's chest while two cops nearby watched. "Take him to the black tarp. Damn it." Anna turned around and started to walk off. "He's the ninth one so far I think." She shook her head and kneeled down to start working on another victim from the bus crash.

Anna got him worked up and had torn a red triage tag off and had put it around his neck. "You two, help. I can't get him to the tarp on my own."

Warrick and Greg helped move to the man to the red triage tarp. Anna went back to work on another victim after they got him laid out on the tarp. He was barely conscious and was in a tremendous amount of pain. Anna had tied a tourniquet around the man's upper thigh to slow the blood flow to an open fracture of his lower leg.

"What's your name?" Anna ripped off a piece of surgical tape and stuck an IV in the man's arm, "I have to start an IV. You've got a compound fracture of your leg and the EMT said you have spinal trauma."

"Scott. Scott Steel." He tried to get up to see what Anna was doing but the EMT next to me slipped a c-collar around his neck before he could. "I'm so cold. What's going on?"

"It's gonna get a lot worse before it gets better." Anna handed me a bag, "Hold it up." I took the bag from her and as soon as I took it from her, I felt the cold liquid from the bag. I didn't know a lot about Anna's job but this IV solution was colder than it should have been. She turned her attention back to the man in front of her, "This is cold, I know but like I said, it's gonna get worse before it gets better."

Still struggling against the restraints, Scott was still trying to look to see what Anna was doing, "What do you mean?"

"I am literally putting ice water in your veins. Tell me if you start getting sleepy."

"What? Why?" I could see from my vantage point that Scott's face had changed from concern to sheer terror, "What is it?"

Anna was busy tying off something but looked up, "That would be bad. That means your heart is stopping."

"What..."

"Listen, I have to slow your breathing and heart rate down to keep you alive." Anna tied the straps on the backboard as two flight medics, one of whom I recognized as Hank, came over. "The icy saline solution will do just that. I'm putting you into hypothermia right now to help. Do you want to be able to walk again?"

The man nodded, "I play hockey."

"Then you'll thank me later on. These two flight medics are taking you straight to the hospital."

Anna told Hank and his partner what she had done. "IV started of cold saline..."

"Anna!"

"What?" She turned around to see who was interrupting her.

Greg, Warrick and an EMT ran up behind us. The EMT's shirt was covered in blood, "Anna, got a kid. Something wrong with his neck. Mom said there's blood everywhere."

"Damn." She ripped a piece of tape off the roll hanging from her stethoscope and stuck it on the sleeve of her shirt as Hank turned to leave with his partner and the injured man. I handed the bag of fluids to Hank and watched as they ran towards the chopper. After the EMT yelled again, Anna jumped up and grabbed her kit and started walking backwards to where the kid was as she shouted for one of the other EMTs or medics to help her. "I need a warm body. I'm gonna need some help over here!"

"Nick, go. Help Anna." Warrick bent down next to where another medic was as I got up and started to run after Anna. "Greg and I got this."

By the time I got to her, Anna was already kneeling down next to the passenger seat of a mangled Ford Taurus. There was a crack in the windshield and the mother was frantically trying to get Anna's attention as she started to assess the situation. "Please help him. Lady, help him! You've got to help him."

"That's why I'm here, ma'am." I stood watch behind Anna as she put on a fresh pair of gloves. "What happened?" She threw me a fresh pair out of her kit as she reached in for some antiseptic and some clean gauze. "Nick, put those on." I caught them as she turned her attention back to the kid. "Hey kiddo. Can you talk?" The kid started to shake his head. "Alright. That's okay. Listen, we're gonna take care of you. I promise." Anna reached for her scissors as she started to rip the boy's shirt with one hand. When the rip got to the collar, she used the scissors to finish the cut. "Neck wound. Looks like debris from the crash hit. Nick, shine your flashlight over here." I pulled it out of my pocket and aimed it at the kid's body. "Some blood, looks like a deep cut but nothing in it. His pupils reactive." She threw something down on top of her kit and got some more gauze out. "Mom, we're gonna have to move him and get him flat on the ground. I'm gonna stay right here until we can get somewhere better." She stood up and looked at me, "Go find a medic. I don't care who it is." She turned me around to face away from the car. "Go find someone and tell them I got a severe neck injury with a possible compromised airway and this kid has got five minutes tops before he JFOs. Now go!" She shoved me towards the ambulances parked behind the crash scene. I left Anna as she was telling the mother to help her wrap some gauze around the kid's neck in an attempt to get the bleeding stopped.

I found a flight medic who was helping victims on the green triage tarp and told him what Anna told me. When he heard what I had to say, he dropped what he was holding and took off in a sprint towards where Anna was. She looked up in time to see him coming. "Shrapnel from the explosion. Airway's compromised."

"Intubation may be necessary." He moved the gauze up to see the kid's injury. "He's our next. Let's get him on a backboard, peds c-collar and get ready for transport."

Anna and the other medic pulled the kid out of the car. As soon as they got him on the ground, his eyes rolled back in his head and he started to shake. The mother started shrieking. I stepped in front of her and let Anna and the other medic do their job. After intubating the kid and giving him something to stop the seizures, the medic stood up with Anna and they started towards one of the rescue helicopters.

"I need a medic!"

"FML." The flight medic told Anna he got this and she looked up to see where the voice came from.

As she looked around, she spotted a uniform who was standing next to a man on the ground. Grabbing her field kit and throwing a bloody pair of gloves at a red biohazard bag as she ran, I followed her, unsure of what I needed to do to help. The officer was looking pale when we got to him and was thankful he didn't have to stare at the body any more, "Kid's been burned."

"Was he in the wreck? I don't see any accident related injuries." Anna dropped her kit to the ground and dug in for a fresh pair of gloves.

The officer shook his head. "Car dropped him off here. One of the other officers saw it. Body dump. Guess the driver figured he could sneak this guy in." I watched as Anna started working. The officer groaned and started to sweat, "I'm gonna be sick."

"Smile." Anna didn't even look up from her kit. "If you're gonna puke, smile."

The officer turned to face Anna but when he saw the burned body, he groaned again and turned around, "Excuse me?"

"Smiling suppresses the gag reflex which makes you keep from hurling and if you do need to hurl, go over there somewhere."

Anna got a fresh pair of gloves out of her kit and put them on as she kneeled down beside the kid. "I know you're in pain but I need to know how you got burned."

The kid shook his head and groaned. "I don't know."

"The fire. Tell me about the fire. How did it light? Was it fast? Slow? What'd it look like? Burn fast? Slow burn? Explosion? What?"

The kid shook his head, "I didn't see it."

I knew this kid was lying to Anna so I decided to try to threaten him. "Look. You see this vest I'm wearing?" The kid nodded. "I'm not a cop." I pointed to Anna, "She's not a cop. The only cop here isn't paying attention to you. He's too busy hurling his guts out all over the interstate. I don't give a damn what you were doing. I need to know what you were messing with so you don't kill us all. Now answer her question."

The kid shook his head again. "I didn't see a match. Bryce just threw it down in the water fountain and it..."

"Damn." Anna looked up.

"Water. We need water." It dawned on me what the kids were using at the same time Anna figured it out. "It's phosphorus, right?" Flashing back to a course on meth labs Warrick, Henry and I had taken, I remember the instructor going on about phosphorus being used in meth labs and how unstable it could be if someone had it on their body or clothes. "We have to neutralize it, right?"

"Yeah, we have to neutralize it or we're all dead." Anna started to look around and pointed at the officer with the weak stomach, "You! Can you get me water? Lots of water like a low pressure hose or something from the trucks." She stood up and pointed to me and another cop, "You two with me, now." As the officer left to go get the water, the other uniform and I followed her to the ambulance. "Hold these." She handed him a box of gauze while she pulled a couple bottles off a shelf. She handed me a third bottle and reached up to get the fourth and handed it to me and we ran back to the scene.

"Now what?" The other officer had come back with the hose. "Hose him off?"

"No, no. Don't hose him off just yet." Anna tore the tops off the bottles. "Okay. Nick, when I start pouring the bicarb, you pour also. Get it all over his body and clothes." She looked up at the officer, "Then you spray him gently. Kink the hose if you have to." I watched as Anna started pouring her two bottles over the kid as I followed her lead. "Start the water but gently." The officer let go of the hose to start the gentle spray of water. "Just like that." Anna looked up again, "Bryan! Where the hell did he go? Bryan, dammit!" He came running over after she called him a second time. "This kid's got to go now." The kid moaned in pain. "Listen Junior. I know you're hurting and I promise you that when we get this neutralized I'll give you a shot of morphine with a Versed chaser but if we don't do this, you'll blow us all up." The kid nodded and Anna turned her attention back to the officer holding the hose, "That's enough water." The weak stomached officer turned the hose off and threw it on the ground and doubled over when he started to gag. Anna looked up at him and told him to step back. "Dude, you're about to..." Anna didn't get a chance to finish before he threw up. "Puke."

Bryan looked over at the officer throwing up before turning his attention back to Anna and me. "Chemical burns from the wreck?"

"No. Officer said he was a body dump. Phosphorus. Nick and I did the bicarb thing to neutralize it. Second and third degree chemical burns."

"Kid, you got lucky. You've got a one way ride to Desert Palms. Let's go." Bryan helped Anna roll him on a backboard and as gently as they could, strapped him after he was wrapped in burn dressings. "You wanna say how this happened? Meth lab?"

The kid raised his hand and gave Bryan the finger, "Go to hell."

"Never smart off to someone who can choke off your air supply." With a little more force than necessary, Bryan tightened the last strap, "Got it?" The kid groaned in pain as Anna shoved the drugs into his IV line. "He's out. Let's go."

Anna and Bryan called into dispatch as they started towards their rig. Anna looked over her shoulder at me once more before she slammed the back of the ambulance after Bryan got in.

Warrick had left to go help one of the other paramedics, leaving Greg and me watching as Anna and Bryan left. "Nick, promise me one thing."

"What?"

Turning away from the ambulance as it left, Greg and I started back towards the remains of the bus, "Promise me that if I ever get that bad, pull the plug. Pull it with both hands."

Greg didn't give me a chance to answer as he went to go help Warrick with the bus as I started taking overall photos of the area. I helped as much as I could until things started to quiet down. One by one, the coroners from day and swing shift plus Doc Robbins took the victims that didn't make it back to the morgue. Grissom and Sara started in on the Maxima. Catherine took control of the dump truck, leaving Greg, Warrick and me to process the bus.

After staying on the scene for almost sixteen hours, Grissom excused all of us to go home and take a nap. By the time I got home, I was so tired I could barely make it up the driveway without running over one of our horses. Anna was already at home after being at the scene longer than I was. She didn't even wake up when I got into bed next to her.

We slept soundly until Grissom called to let me know that he was giving Warrick, Catherine and me the night off because of the wreck last night. Anna and I woke up and headed into Vegas to catch a show at one of the casinos and have dinner afterwards. She and I talked about some of the wedding details and on our way back home, she wanted to stop at Little Chapel of the Flowers to let Olivia know about our date and to pick out which chapel she wanted.

The next day, it was back to work. I came in to the lab and Sara was already at work. "Did I miss shift?"

Sara shook her head, "No, Ecklie needed help and of course, I volunteered. Greg and Warrick just left here minutes ago headed to the scene."

"And you are tearing up a couch, why?"

"We're trying to find bullets in this." Sara turned around, holding up sofa cushion batting. "This is nasty. Do you have any idea how many germs are in this? Dead skin cells. Bodily fluids. I'm going to need to bathe myself in alcohol wipes when I get out of here."

"Someone tried to murder a couch?" I watched as she pulled a utility knife out of the side pocket on her jumpsuit and tore into the fabric on the back of the couch. It was kind of ugly with the print pattern on the fabric being something I remembered seeing in my grandmother's house when I was younger.

"Well, it does fall into the ugly category and should be put it out of its misery, but not quite. Ecklie found this earlier at the 419 that he gave me. The person sitting on it was murdered. He didn't find the bullet in the floor or the walls, so while he's still at the scene with one of the swing shift guys, I'm in here checking this."

Sara went back to rooting in the foam of the cushion as I watched, "Good luck with that. You do know that Bobby Dawson has a metal detector, right?"

"He does, but it's not here. Swing used it on a call out and they haven't brought it back." Sara put the cushion down, "Believe me, if it was here, I wouldn't be rooting through foam and God only knows what else trying to find the bullet."

"Good luck with that. Oh, and Sara?" She turned around and looked at me, "That shade of lipstick looks good on Ecklie's butt." Sara flipped me the bird and went back to digging for the missing bullet in the mountain of foam and fabric in front of her. "Rock steady."

I left Sara where she was, up to her elbows in foam from the cushions as I went to go find Grissom.

Catherine and I caught another easy case. We were done relatively early and I was on my way home to see Anna. She was off work and was going to be off work for the next three days because of her schedule. When I got home, she was lying down on the couch with Danilla on top of her, purring loudly as she slept. "Hey Nicky."

As soon as Anna spoke, the cat woke up and hissed before she took off towards the back of the couch as Cassie and Draco came galloping in the room. We had wood floors in the house and Draco had learned to slow down as not to slide into the wall, but Cassie didn't learn that lesson just yet and when she tried to stop, she skidded into the bookcase next to the wall, sending Anna into a fit of laughs, "You would be laughing at my dog." I put my keys and phone on the shelf next to the picture of Anna and me that my mother took while we were in Texas. I had picked Anna up like a baby and was threatening to drop her in the hot tub on the deck at my parents' house when my mother came out, camera in hand. When she called to us to turn around, she snapped the shot and said she'd email it to us later on. True to her word, by the time we got back home, I had an email from my mother with the picture attached. Anna I knew had a copy printed up and put it in her locker at work as well as one copy for the shelf that was on the bookcase. "Miss me?"

Anna nodded her head and yawned, "Was beginning to wonder if I'd make it. It's hard work being off like I was today. Your day go okay? No major mishaps or anything like the other night?"

"Nope. Not a thing. Still slow. We finished up on the bus crash stuff and started in on a case Cath and I caught earlier. She told me to tell me she wants to know if you bought your dress yet."

Anna smiled, "As a matter of fact I did."

"Where is it? What's it look like?"

"It's white. That's all I'm saying. Other than that, I'm not telling you. It's not here and it's not at Bryan's." Anna reached over and kissed me, "I knew if I left it over there, Bryan would get you a picture of it somehow and I'd have to beat him. You'll see it soon enough. It's the dress Cathy took me to look at and I love it."

"I'm sure I will." I sat down on the edge of the couch after taking my boots off. "Our first Thanksgiving. Should we make plans or something?"

Anna thought a moment, "Spaghetti sounds good to me. If you want to make a big turkey, feel free too, but it's just us."

"Plus the dogs."

"Touché. Us plus the two dogs and Danilla. They'd have the entire turkey devoured in a few seconds. Remember the scene in A Christmas Story when the Bumpus hounds pay a visit and eat the turkey?"

"Point taken. I don't have to be at work until that night and you're off until the next day, so we should do something. Buffet?" Most of the casinos in town would be doing a turkey themed buffet for Thanksgiving. Warrick and I had eaten at the one at the Monaco a few times and it was decent. "Monaco has a pretty decent buffet. That work? You, me and some turkey?"

"Sounds good to me. You?"

"Well, I think it would be a hell of a lot better than the highlight of my day being spending it with a decomposing corpse when I have to go to work."

The look Anna threw me made me laugh, "Really? Spending Thanksgiving with me is more fun than a decomposing corpse. I'm glad I rate so highly."

**AN: So what's the bus crash got to do with the story? Stay tuned…It'll all make sense soon.**

**Any reviews are always welcome even it is just a 'I like it, please update soon' which is better than nothing.**


	29. Mandolin Rain

**Chapter 29 – Mandolin Rain**

"Anna?" I was impatiently waiting on her to come up front so we could leave. Cassie was sitting down beside me, patiently waiting as well. "You can't go. I'll bring you back a doggie bag." She cocked her head to the side and whimpered, "I know, but you can't come."

"Nicky?" Anna came up front wearing a pair of jeans and one of her Las Vegas Wranglers long sleeved t-shirts. Danilla saw her come in which got Draco excited. As Draco barked, Danilla arched her back and hissed before running off towards the other end of the house. "See, she doesn't just hate you. I see you're wearing your shirt. You look good." We had gone to a game a few weeks ago and Anna bought me my own Wranglers shirt and I was wearing mine as well.

"Yep." I leaned forward to kiss Anna, "I figured we'd match." After Draco took off towards the back of the house, I patted Cassie's head and we left, headed to go eat. Anna and I had decided to eat at the Monaco casino for Thanksgiving and head to a Wranglers game after we ate. The game was an early afternoon game and that would give us enough time to have a late lunch, watch the game and head back home before I had to come in to work.

We got to the Monaco and just like last year, it was as crowded this year as it was last year. The waitress seated the two of us quickly and told us to help ourselves to the buffet. Hearing those words, Anna shot up and made her way to the buffet line and came back a moment later with a plate full of food. After she got back, I left to get my food as Anna was asking the waitress if she had a notebook or some paper and a pen she could use. Shaking my head as I left, wondering what in the world Anna needed pen and paper for, I made my way up to the buffet line.

Just as last year, two large turkeys were in the center of the buffet with trimmings on either side. I heard my stomach start to growl as I scooped a heavy portion of mashed potatoes onto my plate and drowned them unmercifully in brown gravy. After carving off some turkey and adding corn, green beans and yams to my plate, I felt satisfied that this was a good first trip through the line. I knew Anna well enough to know she'd make another trip through and I was good for one more trip myself.

Anna was already eating as I sat down. "So I was thinking about bridesmaids." She put her fork down on the edge of her plate after taking a drink from her Sprite, "Well, I've been thinking about a lot more than just that, but that seems to be a pressing wedding related issue."

I smiled, "So what size dress does Bryan need?"

"Uh, no. I was thinking Cathy as my maid of honor plus Jillian and Allison."

"My sisters?"

"Yeah, unless you know a different Jillian and Allison. How many groomsmen are you planning on having?"

I stopped to think, "Well, my brother for sure. I was planning on making him the best man. Bryan is your honorary matron of honor, but he'll be on my side with Tyler and Grissom, who has always been like a father to me."

"What about Warrick and Greg?"

"That's five."

"Nicky, I can count. I didn't know if you wanted to include them. Since your team is so small, what about hurt feelings? If you include Grissom and not Warrick and Greg, then what?"

Anna had a point, "Good point, but that's five and you've only got three listed. I take it your sister is not coming?"

She shook her head, "I doubt it and even if she would…" Anna didn't finish her thought as she started writing again, "So I need two more." She studied her list for a moment as she ate another bite of mashed potatoes, "Think Catherine would want to help? What about Sara? We'll just have everyone at the lab be in it."

I swallowed a bite of my food before I spoke, "I think that if you didn't ask Catherine, she'd make it look like an accident one night at work for me and as for Sara, as long as she's paired with Grissom, I think she'll be fine with that."

"I just thought of something." Anna started to laugh after I asked her what it was, "There are going to be more people in the wedding party than in the audience."

"I don't care. This is our wedding. We've already decided on Twinkies and the date, so if we want half a dozen bridesmaids and groomsmen plus a handful of people in the audience, then that's our prerogative. We're already breaking all the rules as it is so why not one more?"

"True."

Anna hadn't mentioned anything about who was going to walk her down the aisle yet. I was guessing by her silence on the subject that her father was out, "So what about who's walking you down the aisle?"

"Bryan's dad. I asked him."

I felt a stab of pain in my heart when Anna told me who was going to be walking her down the aisle, "So your father…"

She exhaled a sharp breath and took another bite of her lunch, "Told me he couldn't get the time off. I doubt if he even asked. He said he and mama would send a gift but who cares. My grandmother, on the other hand, is livid that they're not going. She called me the other day at work after my father got off the phone. Bryan could hear her screaming on the phone at my father from across the room, but he refused to budge saying he couldn't get time off." Anna looked up at me and I could see it in her eyes that it did bother her that her father told her no, but she was doing her best to keep up a happy façade for me. "So after that, Bryan gave me his phone and told me to call his dad and I did and he was thrilled to help me out. It kinda makes more sense considering Bryan's family raised me anyway."

"How so?"

"I know you know about the turmoil in my family."

"Yeah." I knew that Anna wasn't close to her family and that her sister was more like a stranger. When I went to Arkansas to get Anna, I was actually shocked she was with her sister. I figured she'd be at Bryan's parents' house, but instead, she was at Sam's. "You being at your sister's in Arkansas wasn't exactly a place I would have thought to look for you at."

"That's why I went there. I knew you wouldn't look there and I knew that Bryan wouldn't look there either."

"I can't imagine what that was like. I think the most traumatic family related thing that happened to me as a kid was I threw my brother through a screen door because he broke a bowl of oatmeal over my head." Anna started to laugh, "Before you ask, yes I'm serious."

"Do I want to know?"

"I was washing dishes and was standing on this little train step thing my father got. We all had to take turns washing dishes and I was too short to reach the counter at the time. I was doing my dishes and my brother came over and told me to move because he needed to get a spoon out of the drawer behind me. When I didn't move, he got mad and shoved me. I pulled on to him to keep from falling off the stool and instead, brought him down with me. He had the oatmeal in his hand and hit me over the head with it and broke the bowl on my head."

By this time, Anna was laughing so hard, tears were coming out of her eyes. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh..."

"I'm feeling the love here. It hurt like hell too. So when I got up, I was covered in hot oatmeal with a broken dish in the kitchen floor. My brother had stood up and was laughing. Allison had come in to see what the problem was and that's when I got mad and pushed Tyler through the screen door in the kitchen. At the time, the deck wasn't there and when I shoved Tyler, he fell off the porch step and landed in a mud puddle. By this time, I was laughing so hard, I had forgotten about the bloody oatmeal dripping off my head."

Resting her head on her arms, Anna had laid her head on the table so she could laugh. When she quit laughing as hard, she sat back up and wiped some tears out of her eyes, "Damn, that's great. That's just what I needed to make me feel better. I can just see you throwing Tyler through a door. What'd your mother do?"

"Well, after she took us to the hospital to make sure we didn't have brain damage, she brought us back home. Tyler and I got stuck mucking the stalls for a month. Jillian and Allison were thrilled to be relieved of their horse duty for a month. What was the wildest thing you and Bryan ever did? What stories can you tell?"

"The wildest thing…" Anna stopped to take another bite of her lunch and washed it down with a drink of her Sprite, "Well, moving to San Fran was one of them I guess you could say. That was sort of a rash decision."

"Bryan's cousin had a hand in that?"

"Yeah. Bryan and I both did our EMT certification together then while we were in college, we got our paramedic licenses. After we graduated, we planned on working for the Fayetteville fire department, but when his cousin came along, well, we changed our minds. I was at his apartment and we were getting ready to go back to class and he just looked at me and went, 'So, how do you feel about San Fran?' I thought he was nuts until he said his cousin got in touch with the HR director and they wanted to offer us the jobs but it wasn't official yet. When I found that out, I gave notice with my apartment and about a month later, we had moved into a townhome together in downtown San Fran."

"Together always, huh?"

Anna shrugged, "Kinda like the Two Musketeers I guess. Nicky, until I met you, Bryan was the closest thing I have to family. I spent a lot of time at Bryan's house when I was a kid. Their house was the warmth I didn't have at home. It was like your parents' house. I knew the second that we drove up the driveway and your sister came out and about punctured a lung with her bear hug that I'd fit in. With my family, it was the opposite. We rarely spoke and when we did, it was forced like bad dialogue from a rotten B grade movie. With Bryan's family, it was the opposite. I slept over at Bryan's house most nights in his bed with him and my parents really didn't care and Bryan's parents were receptive to me being over there. Bryan's mother said I kept him in line in school."

"And you never, uh…"

Anna smiled, "If you're asking if we ever dated or did what I think it is you're trying to ask me, I told you, no. We never did and we never thought about it either. Bryan and I have always been best friends. His mother used to tell us that we are long lost separated twins because we're so much alike."

"Well, apart from the almost foot and a half difference in height." Bryan was about three inches taller than me and Anna was barely over five feet. It was amusing to see the two of them standing next to each other with Bryan towering over Anna even more than I did. I had almost a foot of height difference over her.

"Smartass." Anna kicked my shin under the table, "Ever hear of fraternal twins? In any event, no. Bryan and I never dated. When I slept over, we stayed in the same bed and it never bothered us. It was just a given. I even had a key to his house so after school if I wanted to go there, rather than home, I'd just let myself in. I guess you could say that was the one saving grace part of my childhood was his family which is why I chose Bryan's dad. I could tell when I called that he was flattered I asked. Bryan told me later on after we got off work that his dad started crying on the phone after I got off the phone with him. He never though I'd ask considering my own father is alive. Guess that's a good thing mine is such a frigid asshat."

I picked the wrong moment to take a drink from my Coke. "Thanks." In between coughs and trying to not drown on dry land, Anna started to laugh, "At least if I choke and start to die, you're a paramedic and can save me. Where is Bryan anyway?"

"San Francisco. They left right after we got off work to spend the holiday with Cathy's family. He'll be back in time for my shift next week." Anna turned her attention back to her wedding list she had made, "So we have Bryan's dad, Twinkies, the date, the location, my dress and our bridesmaid and groomsmen list made out. Oh, and I thought of something else." She set her pen down on top of the notebook. "As for a wedding song. Since we're going for the 'whatever works' theme with this wedding, what about 'Caledonia' rather than the traditional march?"

"Caledonia." That song definitely had a special meaning for Anna and me. "I think that'd be perfect for us. It's just…"

"Us?"

"Yeah. Us." I pulled my phone out of my pocket to call my sisters. "I suppose you want to talk to my sisters about being in the wedding?"

"Nicky..." Anna pulled my phone out of my hand and smirked, "You do realize that this phone is past its prime, right?"

I took my phone back from her, "Don't hate the phone. It rings. I can make calls and answer calls and I can text. That's fine for me."

"Nick, really. Not to be negative here, but I think I remember seeing this phone in those painting things on cave walls in Egyptian history books. Didn't Ra use this phone to call Cleopatra to set up a booty call?"

"Anna." I shook my head and laughed as I stabbed another bite of turkey with my fork, "It's official. You are the queen of sarcasm. There'll be a crowning ceremony later in the day."

Anna tossed her napkin at me, "Seriously, Nick. You need a new phone. I'm surprised there isn't a slot for quarters on the side or room for a hand crank."

I tossed her napkin back at her. "I get it. I get it." I scrolled through my address book until I found Jillian's number. "You want to talk to her?" I held the phone out towards Anna and she shook her head.

"Nicky!"

"Jillian." I put my fork down on my plate, knowing this was going to be a long, long conversation, "Happy Day of the Bird."

"You too, little brother. How are you?"

"Fine. We're all fine. Ryan and I are going to his parents' house after while for supper. What about you and my future sister in law? Not coming to Texas are you?"

"I wish. I have to work tonight and Anna just got off work this morning. Speaking of Anna, she has something she wants to ask you."

"Tell her whatever it is, I said yes."

I laughed as I handed the phone to Anna and listened to her end of the conversation. I could tell Jillian's response on the phone by the shrieking sounds and the fact that Anna had to hold the phone away from her ear to keep from losing her hearing. "So the wedding is May tenth. When can you come out for your dress fitting and all that?" Anna started writing in her notebook again, "My schedule is pretty flexible. I'm on two days, off four days. I can't vouch for Nicky though. They've been shorthanded at the lab lately and he's been working on his off days." Anna reached over for her phone and started scrolling through her calendar, "Sounds good to me. I'll be getting off that morning, so I'll be off the next four days. That'll give us enough time to find your dress." She looked up at me and smiled, "Yeah. I'm sure that we can work that out too and you can take Allison's back and she can have it fitted in Texas."

I went back to eating while Anna and my sister finished up their call. They were just ending the call when I got up to get another plate of food. I turned to watch Anna and crashed into someone in front of me, "Excuse m..." I turned to see who I ran in to and saw it was Detective Vartann. "Hey. Sorry about that."

He shook his head, "No problem. Happy Thanksgiving, Nick."

"You too." I was just about to excuse myself and finish filling my plate when Catherine came up behind me and hugged me. "Cath. Hey."

"Happy Thanksgiving, Nick." Catherine looked around the restaurant, "Anna here?"

I motioned over my shoulder, "Yeah. She's over there. She was talking to my sister about wedding plans. Are you two here together?"

Throughout our conversation, Vartann stayed by Catherine's side. She looked over at Vartann, who was slightly flushed at my comment, "Yeah. We're, um, eating here for lunch."

Not wanting to embarrass either one of them any farther, I suggested that since seating was at a premium today that they sit with us, "I'm sure Anna won't mind."

Catherine looked at Vartann who said that was fine and together, we made our way back to my table. "Happy Thanksgiving."

Anna looked up and smiled, "Catherine. Hey. I'm actually glad you're here."

I moved my drink to the same side of the table as Anna as Vartann and Catherine sat across from us, "Anna, I don't think you've met Detective Vartann. Lou, this is Anna, Nick's fiancée. Anna, this is Lou."

He stretched his arm across the table and shook Anna's hand, "Well, not officially anyway. I've seen you at some scenes, but we're not there long enough to get acquainted. Nice to finally meet you though."

"Anna works for the LVFD. That's how she and Nicky met. She saved his bacon when he about killed himself tripping over a flower pot." Catherine smiled at me, remembering the day that I met Anna, after she basically shoved me towards her. "Nick was dragging his feet. He didn't want to get help but I bet now he thanks me."

Now it was my turn to be embarrassed, "When I'm not too busy wanting to hide under the table from embarrassment. Thanks, Cath."

She smiled, "You're welcome."

"I thought you looked familiar." Vartann unfolded his napkin and put it in his lap, "I've seen you out and about with the calls. You work on both the ambulance and the trucks, right?"

Anna nodded, "Yep. That's me."

Catherine had started eating while Anna and Vartann were introducing each other. "So, why are you glad to see me?"

"Well, Nicky and I have been discussing wedding plans and I had something I wanted to ask you."

"What?"

"I need a bridesmaid and…" Anna stopped when Catherine dropped her fork and started nodding her head, "I take it that's a yes?"

"It's definitely a yes. I'd love to. Love it. Love to as long as you promise not to make me wear something stupid looking."

Anna laughed, "No. Nick won't let me pick out some gaudy color for the wedding." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and after opening up the internet explorer on her phone, she opened a webpage and handed the phone across the table. "I was thinking on that for the dresses."

Catherine put on her reading glasses as she took the phone from Anna, "Love it. I love it. It's not tacky at all. Floor length which is good for me and it's simple." She took her glasses off and handed the phone across the table, but I intercepted it before Anna took it back, "Nick."

"What?" I wanted to see the phone so I could see the full dress. "Anna won't show me her bridal gown so I have a right to see what the bridesmaids are wearing." I scrolled through the page and zoomed in on the picture of the dress Anna had chosen. I had to hand it to her as the one she picked out was a decent dress. I actually liked it. The dress she picked out had a sweetheart neckline with, according to the description, a Grecian-inspired draped bodice that had a pleated waist. "I like it. Since you won't show me yours, I guess I know what everyone else will be wearing."

Anna took her phone back from me, "I told you that I'm not showing you. It's bad juju and we've had enough bad juju to last us the next lifetime. I'm not risking it."

Catherine stabbed a bite of her turkey, "I like it and you better not show Nick what your dress looks like. That's a cute dress though, especially like the part that it's a sweetheart neckline and floor length. What color? Are you going for the black in the picture or something different?"

"Nope. Something different. I couldn't do black at a wedding." Anna shook her head, "I like the dark purple color. I think the bridal shop called it lapis but I'm from Arkansas and we don't use fancy words like that. I call it dark purple. Nick's sister will be here around the first of the year to get hers fitted. The shop on the strip where I got my dress from has these in stock. If you can swing it during the time Jillian is here, you can go with us and I can fit you for yours, too. I was gonna talk to Sara as well about being one."

"Have you asked Sara yet?"

Anna shook her head, "Not yet. I work next week and I was gonna ask her then whenever I get a chance to stop by the lab or get Nick to have her stop by the station or something. You're the first one I've asked besides Nick's sisters. My work husband's wife knew she was gonna be in the wedding since the day Nick and I told her and Bryan that we were engaged."

"So, the whole CSI crew is gonna be in the wedding?" Vartann looked at Anna, "How many bridesmaids are you having?"

"There's gonna be Nick's two sisters plus Catherine, Sara and my best friend's wife who will be my maid of honor. Nick wanted his brother, my best friend Bryan, plus Grissom, Warrick and Greg in the wedding as groomsmen so I had to come up with more bridesmaids."

"Anna and I got a kick out of the fact that there will be more people in the wedding party than in attendance, but since we're basically breaking all the traditional wedding rules anyway, we figured why not."

"Hey, it's your wedding. Do what you want." Catherine swallowed more of her food, "I always said if I got married again, I'm getting married on one of the gondolas that circles the Venetian."

Vartann choked on a bite of his turkey, "Sorry. That just caught me off guard. A gondola ride wedding?"

Catherine shrugged, "This is Vegas. If you can get married in an alien costume by Elvis and Priscilla Presley wannabes, then you should be able to get married in a gondola."

"Oh you can get married in a gondola." Anna got her phone back out and showed Catherine another web page, "I already checked into those, but they only allow one guest in the boat and I'd have a hard time picking between Bryan and Nick's mother who threatened to tan his hide if she wasn't invited so the Little Chapel of the Flowers won out, plus you can broadcast the service on the internet which is good because I doubt my family shows up."

"I was right. Ha." Catherine looked at the web page with the gondola weddings on it and handed Anna back her phone after she was done, "I'm so sorry, Anna, about your family being difficult. Nick told me that they are a bit hard to deal with."

Anna looked at me and I could tell by the way she was looking at me that she wanted me to answer Catherine's question. "Toxic personality that is borderline radioactive is one way to word it." I remembered the icy stare that Sam was giving me when Anna told her sister I was taking her back. "I've only met Anna's sister but that was enough."

I looked over as Anna cut up another bite of her turkey as I watched her try to fight the emotions I knew she was feeling. When she started carving her turkey a little more forcefully than necessary, I put my hand on her thigh under the table to calm her down. She dropped her knife to her plate and poked her turkey with her fork, "They are but they're still my family. I guess I love them but I don't have to like them but we're not close at all. That's why Bryan's father is gonna walk me down the aisle I think. My own father said he couldn't get time off from work. I bet he didn't even ask, but who cares. I spent more time at Bryan's house when I was younger than I did at my own. Bryan's parents practically raised me."

"I'm so sorry, Anna. I really am. I've met Nicky's mother a time or two and she's a wonderful person. I'm sure they'll welcome you into their home."

"They already have. My own parents and sisters ignored me when we were in Texas back in the summer. I hadn't seen them in months and instead of fawning over me, I was ignored and they loved Anna." Anna smiled at me, grateful for the change of pace to the conversation, "Everything will work out."

"Catherine hasn't told me yet, but when's the wedding? Is it soon?"

Anna looked over at Vartann, "It's May 10th. Nick's parents got married on that date and I thought it'd be nice to honor them and you're invited if you can get off work. It's at three in the afternoon. We'll send out invitations eventually, but since you're here, you're invited."

"Well, thank you." Vartann nodded in appreciation before he turned his attention back down to his food.

"Marrying on Nick's parents' anniversary is sweet actually. You got plans for the rest of the day since your family isn't here?" Catherine stopped and took a drink of her tea, "Football?"

"No football. I actually can't stand football unless it's college football and even then it has to be Razorback ball or I don't care. Nicky and I were leaving here in a bit and heading to a Wranglers game then Nicky has to work but I don't."

"Rub it in, honey. I'll be there right beside him." Catherine laughed, "Let's just hope it's an easy night."

Realizing what time it was, we finished eating and got ready to leave. The game was in under an hour and Anna wanted to get there early enough to stop by and sign herself up for a few shifts at the arena before it started. When it came time to leave, Catherine and Vartann went in one direction while Anna and I went in another. "So how is your Thanksgiving so far? Is it depressing?'

"It does suck being away from my parents, but no. It's not depressing. Any day I get to spend with you is never a bad day" I shook my head at Anna's question, "This is different for me. Usually, I've got football at home at my parents' house consisting of oversized troglodytes bashing each others brains in for five minutes during the course of sixty minutes of clock time, and my extended family also known as the people that you forget about during the year except when you have to get together to celebrate the fact you share a last name."

"Ah, it can't be all that bad. I bet the Thanksgivings at the Stokes house were infamous in their own right."

I opened the door and helped Anna in the truck, "Yeah. Between the football games, the Texas/Texas A&M arguments and the food, it was fun." As soon as she sat down, I held on to her hand and kissed the top of it, "But I would much rather be here with you. We have a wedding to plan."

**Insert begging for reviews line here.**


	30. Diamond Eyes

**Chapter 30 – Diamond Eyes**

The night had gone by like caramelized molasses. It was incredibly slow at work which hadn't happened in ages. The hit and run case Warrick and I got assigned was easy and in the middle of processing, Brass came in and told us they caught the suspect and for us to finish up. Given the fact it was a hit and run with a stolen car versus a light pole, the car was easy enough to process and about an hour after we arrived, we were done.

I was bored and kept bothering Anna who was also at work after signing up to work an overtime shift with Bryan. Unfortunately for me, she never could break free for longer than a few minutes at a time to keep me entertained at work. Bobby Dawson got sick of Warrick and me pestering him and threatened to shoot us if we didn't leave his office. After screwing off in the DNA lab with Wendy for a while before leaving her to go bug Hodges, we were finally able to clock out and after a mad dash to the time clock in the hallway, I beat Warrick and swiped my ID badge through the reader. As he stood behind me glaring at me for beating him, I gleefully pressed the clock out button and headed home.

After finally getting home after being delayed by a train, I pulled in the driveway and saw that Anna wasn't home yet. I parked on my side of the carport and got out, stretching as I opened the back door to my truck to get my bag out. As I approached the door, I could hear Draco and Cassie barking wildly at me. When I opened it, they both met me and the barking quieted down when they realized I wasn't a monster. Cassie left me alone in the living room while Draco got on her bed in the corner of the room next to the fireplace.

Tossing my work bag on the floor in the living room, I once again scared the cat. "If cats could cuss, I know you'd have a lot to say to me right about now. I know by now you'll never be my friend no matter what I do." I had to laugh as Cassie came running up front again this time with a brightly colored stuffed fish she loved, sending Danilla running towards the back of the house. As I knelt down to pet Cassie, she dropped the fish at my feet and responded to the attention by leaning her full weight against my thighs, knocking me off balance and sending me falling into the bookcase by the front door. One of the picture frames on the top shelf fell off and landed next to me on the floor after the glass in the picture frame shattered. "Thanks. If Anna gets mad, it's your fault." I moved Cassie off of me and got up, being careful to pull on her collar to get her to follow me, rather than traipse through the broken glass on the floor. When Draco started towards the front door after hearing a car go by thinking it was Anna, I yanked on her collar and let both dogs out in the back yard so I could clean up.

I had just got the glass from the frame thrown away when Anna got home. The flash of her headlights shone through the living room window as she made the curve of the driveway from the street. I could hear her outside baby talking to one of the dogs or one of the horses that came up as she parked her truck. After I put the broom and dustpan back up, I looked through the front window of the house and saw her black Xterra in the driveway with her duty bag on top of the hood, but she was nowhere to be seen. I put my shoes back on and stepped outside into the frigid air and went to find her.

The barn light was on so I knew she was in there with the horses. Our barn kid, Josh, had broken his arm playing basketball and Anna and I were doing most of the work ourselves when Josh's younger brother couldn't help until Josh got his cast off in a couple of weeks. As I crunched through the dead leaves heading to the barn, Cassie found me and walked along beside me until a squirrel caught her eye and she was gone again. When I rounded the corner and stepped inside the barn, Draco was sitting next to the hay bins and was watching as Anna put up one of the horses. "Welcome home."

Anna was smiling as she latched the gate to the stall, "Nicky. Hey. Puddin here got out. Sneaky devil. One of us forgot to tie the door shut. Did Austin work last night?"

"I have no idea. I was asleep."

"Remind me to tell him or get Josh to tell him that she can bump the gate open until the latch comes undone. I would let them out, but the weather guy says rain is in the forecast and it's too cold for them to be out in the rain." After kissing me, she reached over the slats of the gate and tied the strap around the post before she petted the gray mare's head. The horse responded by stomping her back foot and nudging Anna's hand again to get more attention. When that didn't work, she nipped at Anna's shoulder, leaving a slimy spot on the side of her uniform shirt. That got her attention as Anna turned and reached for the horse.

"Puddin? You never use her real name anymore do you?"

She shrugged, "Puddin. Diamond. Horsie. Aggie's Last Diamond from the Lakes. Whatever. She answers to all of them."

Shanti, another one of our horses who shared the stall next to Diamond, stopped eating and started to pace in her stall. Shanti had become my favorite out of the group and whenever I rode, I usually put a saddle on her back. When Anna and I started riding together after work, I swapped between Gus and Shanti before finally settling on Shanti. "You named your horse after yourself?" When she nudged me wanting attention, I leaned against one of the posts making up her stall and reached over and petted her.

"Partially. I had to register her when I got her. Her name was Diamond because of the patch of white on her forehead. The Lakes were the family that raised her and who I bought her from and she was their last mare as they were getting out of the horse business and moving to Colorado I think. When I got her, she wasn't registered officially, so Bryan suggested Aggie's Last Diamond from the Lakes and I liked it. Puddin fits better these days since she's such a sweet mare. Cody loves to ride her." Anna stepped up on the bottom rail of the fence after fishing a handful of oats out of the barrel in the corner of the barn. As she held her hand out between the slats, Diamond came over and started to eat. When Shanti saw what was going on, she got jealous and started to pace even more which was her way of showing she wanted attention as well. I reached in the bucket for another handful of oats and after feeding her, Anna's other horses started to protest. As she fed Amy and Gus, I held my hands out and fed Gypsy and Zack. Anna told me right after we started dating that Gypsy, Shanti, Gus, Zack and Amy came with the house. The former homeowner was an elderly lady who was being put in a nursing home. The daughter of the former homeowner was going to call animal control to pick them all up and when Anna heard that, she had her realtor get in touch with the daughter and offer to keep all the horses with the property. When the former owner found out about the deal Anna had made with her daughter, the lady gave Anna the house for what she owed on it rather than her asking price, which saved Anna a lot of money, as a thank you present for keeping all of her horses together. After she moved in, Anna befriended the next door neighbors. Diamond was the only horse left after the family sold all their other horses so Anna bought her and registered her with Bryan's suggestion as the name. "So after all the Lake family moved, Bryan and Cathy bought their house and moved in. My realtor got two record sales from me and from Bryan and Cathy. No wonder she sent us both Christmas gifts that year." I was about to respond, but a set of headlights flashed through the windows of the barn, "Who's that?" As short as Anna was, she couldn't see who it was through the window in Diamond's stall which was up higher than the rest of the windows. I followed her out of the barn as we started towards the house, "Another Tahoe? Someone from work?"

"Oh. I kinda forgot to tell you. I sort of told Warrick he could crash here today. His apartment building is being fumigated."

Anna started to smile, "Now that's tragic. I don't care if he stays here. He can take one of the back bedrooms. He can swim if he wants, but no skinny dipping."

I picked Anna up fireman style and slung her over my shoulders and started to carry her towards the house with her laughing the whole way and begging me to put her down. Draco and Cassie noticed Warrick and took off towards the front yard barking all the way. "Warrick."

He opened the back door to his Tahoe and got his bag out of the back, "Hey. Both of you."

After Anna started to wiggle enough to where I was about to drop her, I put her on the ground after I let the dogs inside. "Warrick, hey. What brings you by?"

I smiled because I knew Anna knew the answer to that already and she was about to mess with him a little bit. She started up the brick path to the side door of our house, "Termites."

Anna turned around and stared, "Are bugs that eat wood."

She stepped in the house and I followed her in as I opened the door a bit wider so Warrick could step in as I put my hand through the belt loops on the back of Anna's uniform pants. "I know that. They're fumigating my townhouse."

"Well, that's terrible." Anna shut the door as Warrick stepped to the side. "Where are you gonna stay?"

"Nick kinda told me I can crash here tonight. He still owes me one. Actually, he still owes me a lot more than one."

"Well then come in. We can call someone who cares." Anna started smiling, "Maybe you can stay at their house."

Draco and Cassie came running into the room and stopped at the edge of the room and started barking at Warrick. He took a step back and bumped against the bookcase by the door, "Thanks for the welcome." Draco stepped forward and just as she did me a long time ago when I first met Anna, she sniffed Warrick until she was satisfied that he meant us no harm. After she completed her inspection, she took her stance between Warrick and Anna while Cassie presented Warrick with her stuffed fish that she brought me earlier. Warrick bent down and picked up the slobbery toy and gently tossed it into the kitchen, sending Cassie out of the room.

"Anytime. You can throw your stuff in the side bedroom. Nick'll show you where it is oh, and if you want to use the pool, it's back that way." Anna pointed over her shoulder, "But no skinny dipping."

"Great. I'll try to resist the urge to swim in the buff. Thanks for letting me crash here. I do appreciate it." He moved out of Cassie's way as she chased after the fish again after Warrick threw it a second time. When Warrick set his stuff down on the couch, he saw our Christmas tree, "Nice tree."

"Thanks. This is our first Christmas together so Nicky and I went all out."

"I know and I have something for the two of you." As Anna stood next to me and leaned against my body, I put my arm around her waist as she yawned. I knew she was about as tired as she looked having only had a day off in between shifts due to the overtime shift she and Bryan worked. We watched as Warrick put his bag on the couch and started to dig around and pulled out a small red box and held it out towards us. "For both of you. Little birdie at work said you didn't have one of these and I thought since I was staying here, I'd do the honors."

Anna held out her hand and let go of me so she could grab the box. As she yawned again, she used her fingernails to tear open the tape across the top and pulled out an ornament. As she turned it round to look at it, she started to smile, "Okay. You can stay here now. I approve." Anna handed me the ornament and I saw that Warrick had bought a silver bell and had it engraved with ' _Nick and Anna's First Christmas'_  on one side and on the other, ' _May there be many more_.' "Perfect and we did need one. Nicky hasn't gotten one yet after I've been bothering him to get one now going on two weeks." Anna told me she was getting ready to head to bed and let me hang the ornament on the tree. I found a spot near the center of the tree and after hooking the satin ribbon over the branch, Anna hugged Warrick and thanked him one more time before kissing me and heading back to our room.

"She work last night?"

"Yeah. She worked an overtime shift on Wednesday on the engine then worked Thursday with Bryan on the ambulance. She's wiped. I know they were busy as hell all day yesterday. Anna barely had time to text me during the day."

"Does your Christmas tree have eyes?"

"Excuse me?"

Warrick could tell by the look I was throwing him that I thought he was insane. "Get over here." He pointed towards the tree, "Your Christmas tree has eyes." He leaned forward to get a better look, but stood upright before standing behind me, "Your Christmas tree is blinking at me."

"Oh." I recognized the golden eyes of Danilla, "That's Anna's cat. She hides in the tree from Cassie and Draco."

"Good to know I'm not going crazy." Warrick looked over at the entertainment center where our TV was, "You have a Wii, right?"

"Yeah. Why?"

Warrick reached in his bag again and pulled out a copy of a football game I had been dying to get. Anna didn't care too much for anything other than hockey and I hated playing sports games by myself. "You're on." He didn't even have to ask. I put the game in the machine as I grabbed the controllers and sat down on the couch. Cassie was lying on the floor underneath me and made for an excellent foot rest.

Almost two hours later, Warrick and I were still in the middle of our game. I was starting to yawn more and more. Cassie had gotten up and had gone to the bedroom with Anna who was sound asleep when I went to check on her to make sure our bantering hadn't kept her up. Finally, after I beat him, he admitted defeat and said he was headed to bed. I showed him where the second bathroom was and told him I'd see him later tonight.

I took a shower, being as quiet as I could not to wake Anna up. When I got out and got dressed, she was awake and had her notebook out and was lying in bed, writing out more details for our wedding. "Did I wake you?" I tossed the damp towel into the hamper and climbed into bed with her, kissing her softly as I went to lie down next to her.

"Sort of, but it's okay." Anna put her notebook down long enough to kiss me back. "So who should we invite?" After adjusting her position in bed, she was in bed with her left knee propped up and had her notebook resting on that knee with a pen in her hand. I could tell as I got in bed that she had written some after she had left Warrick and me up front. "We have the groomsmen and the bridesmaids all planned out. Now for the invitations."

"There's another detail we haven't thought about." I got out of bed to turn the bathroom light off that I forgot and left on.

"I know. I was thinking on just playing around online and seeing what I could find. It doesn't have to be anything fancy. Construction paper and glitter is fine with me."

"Anna…" Twinkies instead of a wedding cake was bad enough but glittery construction paper for invitations was pushing it.

"Kidding." Anna smiled as she started writing, "So I'll send one to each of your family members plus mine but I'm just wasting a stamp…" She kept writing in her notebook until I threw the covers off the bed, sending her notebook flying to the floor. She lightly shoved me as I got out of bed to open the door for the cat who was scratching as Anna bent over and got it, "What about everyone at work? I have your team members on there plus Vartann since I already told him he could come. Who else?"

"Mandy, Hodges, Wendy and Henry from the lab. I'll have to get you their addresses from HR. Also, Brass. We've worked together for years. It'd be disrespectful not to invite him."

"Good point." As I got back in bed, I was beginning to yawn and was fighting to stay awake, "How's your foot?"

At the bus crash a couple of weeks ago, Anna had tripped and caught herself on a guard rail but she wound up piercing the side of her boot with a piece of glass from the wreck and had a slightly sprained ankle. Though she didn't need stitches, she had a pretty nasty cut on the side of her foot and had to replace her boots, "Fine. The cut is almost healed but my ankle is kind of sore still. Diamond backed up in her stall and caught me off guard and I stepped wrong and aggravated it again but I'm fine for work. If I wasn't fine, I wouldn't have stayed on the shift. I'll be plenty fine to walk down the aisle."

"I'd have someone carry you if that was the case. Bryan can always throw you over his shoulders and do the fireman carry." I started laughing as I got a mental picture of Anna in her wedding gown being carried down the aisle by one arm and a leg. "That'd be memorable."

"So would the black eye I'd give you at the altar." Anna took her glasses off and set them on the night stand as she dropped her pen and wedding notebook to the ground, "So what else do we need to figure out. We have the date, the cake…"

I interrupted, "The Twinkies you mean."

"Close enough." Anna yawned and scooted in closer to me, "The guests and the dress. Oh, wait. What about your tuxedo?"

"I've got that covered. My mother said she'd send my sister with explicit instructions to have her help me with one when Jillian comes for her bridesmaids dress fitting. I guess she thinks I'd pick out another one like what I wore to prom."

Anna groaned, knowing what I was talking about, "I'd give you two black eyes for that one. Anything else we can think of? Honeymoon?"

"You leave that one to me." I kissed Anna as I turned off the light on my side of the bed, "I've got something in the works I know you'll love."

"No clues?"

I shook my head, "Not a one. This one you'll just have to find out on your own."

Two weeks later, Anna was getting ready to head in to work. I had just gotten off work and was about to head inside to sleep. We had been working hard on a robbery case that was taking up much of my time at work. Between work and the overtime at court I was collecting, I was seriously reconsidering our San Jose Sharks honeymoon road trip and replacing it with a week in Maui.

"I give up." Anna pulled the hood of her rain jacket over her head, "Building a boat. Collecting two of everything." She reached up to kiss me, "I love you, Nicky."

"Love you too." I opened the door to her truck and watched as she backed out, headed in to work.

With the gentle sounds of the rain against the tin roof on our house, I fell asleep pretty easily and woke up with just enough time to stop by the station before work. Anna and Bryan had gotten another Xbox and were playing Doom. She gave her controller to one of the firemen and spent some time with me before I had to leave.

I got drenched running from the station to my truck and got soaked even more from my truck to the lab. I was on my way down to the locker rooms to change when Grissom said he wanted to hand out assignments and get back to a case he was assigned to. He handed out one slip to Warrick and Sara and handed Catherine a slip and told her to take Greg and me. "Where is Greg?"

"I don't know. It's not my day to keep up with him." Catherine stood up and pushed her chair under, "We'll text him on our way over there."

"Fine. Just tell him his shift starts promptly at eleven. It's a few minutes past eleven."

Greg said he was running late but would meet us at the apartment we were heading to. We had been assigned to a DB inside of an apartment. The downstairs neighbor came home from a trip and said his ceiling was leaking. When the PD got there, they went upstairs and found the homeowner dead on the floor.

Catherine and I got to the apartment complex and parked. The two officers out front told us that the body was in the front room off to one side, but said that we'd smell it before we got in.

"Great." Catherine stepped in under the overhang of the stairs and out of the rain. "Nothing like a smelly corpse to get the night started. Between the corpse and the floods, what else could happen?"

"I learned long ago not to say anything because inevitably, something always does." When I got to the top of the stairs and turned to head inside the apartment, the stench of decomp hit me in the nose, "Damn."

Hearing stomping on the concrete steps behind us, we looked around and saw Greg running up the steps, taking them two at a time. "You're late." Catherine waved her hand in front of her face in a fruitless attempt to rid the stench of the dead body from her nose.

Greg set his field kit down and started to put on gloves, "I know. I got held up."

I shook my head, "By what? Traffic? Gunpoint? Giant squid?"

He laughed, "Giant squid. You should have seen the size of that thing. It was climbing up the side of the Eiffel Tower at the Hotel Paris when I came down the strip to get here. I think it ate Ecklie.

"I don't think we could get that lucky."

"So. What do we have?" Greg started to look around, "DUNS I take it?"

"Your powers of deduction are overwhelming." I pointed over towards the spot on the carpet where our victim was, "We elected you to collect bodily fluids. Have at it."

Greg shot me the finger as Catherine's phone started to ring, "Eddie?"

A clap of thunder rattled the glass panes in the window, "Much more rain and we're all gonna need boats to get to work." I watched as Greg started to get sample kits out of his field kit and had to laugh when he started to cough and gag as he put his arm across his face in an attempt to keep the smell away.

"Eddie? Where are you? It's…I can't hear…" Catherine looked at her phone, "I don't know where they are, but wherever they are, they're not getting a signal."

I was in the hallway going through the victim's coat closet when she walked by me, "Problems?"

Catherine shook her head, "No, I think it's just him calling to tell me Lindsey wants me to come home. She's with Eddie tonight and thunderstorms always did scare her."

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw that I got a full signal. "I don't think it's our phones. We have the same phone and same carrier and I've got full service."

"If Lindsey wants to come home, she'll call back." She put her phone back in her pocket and turned as David came in, "Stinky is over there. Hope you brought your vapor rub. This one's pretty nasty."

David directed another person with him to put the gurney over to one side so they could figure out how to pick up the decedent's bloated body, "Should have used more sunscreen." David's assistant started to cough after he spoke, "Jesus, this stinks."

"Breathe with your ears."

The assistant looked over at me, "Do wha…" He couldn't finish his sentence. In the midst of a coughing fit, he turned and threw up in the corner of the room we were in, "I hope I did…" After throwing up a second time, he was finally able to help David load the body onto the stretcher and Catherine, Greg and I watched as they left, grateful that they and the main source of the stench were gone.

"Alright, now that that's gone, let's finish up here." Catherine started towards the back of the apartment when her phone rang again, "Lindsey? Honey?" Catherine dropped her field kit on the floor and the contents spilled out, "You're where?" Apparently still having signal problems, she started to move around the room, "Honey, I can't hear you. Where's dad?"

"He's out…"Catherine had turned the speaker on her phone on, hoping to get a better reception, "He fell out of the…Lots of…Mommy!"

I could tell from where I was that Lindsey was upset about something, "What's going on?"

Catherine shook her head, "I don't know." Lindsey tried saying something but the phone went dead, "Damn it." Immediately redialing the phone, Lindsey answered again, "Honey, where are you?"

"Mommy! Help me!"

"Honey, where are you?"

Greg had stopped processing and was watching Catherine with me. I could tell by the tone in Lindsey's voice that something was wrong, "There's too much water…" The speaker phone crackled again as the signal dropped. "…Car off the road."

"Daddy's car ran off the road into the water?"

"Yes."

Catherine's face paled when she realized what was going on as she and I started towards the door. Greg told one of the uniformed officers at the door to keep an eye on the apartment until another CSI could finish up. I escorted Catherine out with Greg right behind us. Unlocking my Tahoe, Catherine got in the front seat and Greg got in the back while we were trying to find out where Lindsey was. When we finally figured out where she was, Greg radioed in to dispatch to get fire and EMS started towards their location.

When we got to the scene, a LVPD squad car had already beaten us there. Catherine got out of my truck before it even had stopped and tried to break the barricade between the officer and Lindsey, but the officer held firm and wouldn't let her pass. I could see from where we were standing, Lindsey was in the back seat of the submerged car and was beating on the back glass. After begging, Catherine was fed up and stomped down hard on the officer's boot and when he released his grip on her, she darted past him and down the embankment and to the sinking car.

The flashing red and clear lights of the fire department engine were reflecting off of the pouring down rain as they approached. One of the firemen got out and the officer told him that Catherine was already down there, trying to rescue Lindsey. He ran back to the truck and came back with two other men dressed in harnesses and after tying off leads to the edge of the fence, they started to climb down the embankment to help out.

After tying off the edge of the car with one of the leads, one of the men got Catherine out of the water. She was struggling against his grip, but he held on to her. The second fireman in the water managed to break the glass on the car's window and got Lindsey out. As soon as they emerged from the water, the ambulance got here and I was relieved to see it was Anna's radio number on the passenger side of the door. The fireman holding Catherine had picked her up and was carrying her back to the ambulance. I followed them back there and watched as he put her on the steps of the ambulance. The second fireman came with Lindsey in his arms and as soon as Catherine saw Lindsey, she started crying even harder.

Anna picked Lindsey up out of Catherine's arms and put her on the gurney in the back of the ambulance. Greg had come over and was standing behind me, out of the way as we watched as Anna took care of Lindsey. Bryan attempted to help Catherine, but she kept shrugging him off and instead, got off of the back step of the ambulance and sat down on the bench seat next to Anna.

"What happened?" Detective Vega was standing beside me as he looked inside, "Catherine?"

She didn't hear him or she wasn't paying attention, so I filled in the blanks, "Catherine got a call from Lindsey a little bit ago. The car they were in drove off the road and wound up over there." I pointed towards the drainage culvert, "LVFD got Lindsey out of the car and Catherine who jumped in after her. They're trying to get Lindsey's dad out now."

A second ambulance came to the scene and Bryan told Catherine and Lindsey that the paramedics in that rig would take them to the hospital, "We're gonna stay here and wait on Eddie." As Bryan's eyes met mine, I knew what he was trying to say. He wanted to say  _"We'll transport the body to the hospital,"_  but with Lindsey in earshot, he kept his thoughts to himself.

Bryan helped Catherine and Lindsey off as he and Anna ran to the edge of the fence after one of the fireman shouted that they found Eddie. I could tell by his limp arms and posture that it wasn't good. I told Greg to take my Tahoe to the hospital and be with Catherine and I'd catch a ride with a uniform or someone to the hospital. He took my keys from me and after glancing back once more at Eddie as the fireman put him on a gurney, he ran back to my Tahoe, thankful to be out of the rain and not having to watch what was going on.

I stood back out of the way as they rushed him to the back of the awaiting ambulance. Anna slammed the back door and got in the front seat, not paying any attention to anyone around her. When she worked, she was totally focused on her job and zoned out everything else. I sighed and watched as they sped off.

"Need a ride?"

I turned around to see Detective Vega standing behind me, "Yeah. Can you take me to the hospital?"

"Sure." He started towards his police cruiser and I got in the passenger's side. "What happened?"

Vega started the car and buckled his seatbelt. I did the same and repeated what I told him earlier, "I don't know much more than that. Lindsey is going to the hospital with Catherine. I'm sure you can interview her there."

By the time we got to the hospital, I saw both ambulances and two more Tahoes in the ambulance parking lot of Desert Palms. I figured they belonged to Grissom and Warrick. I knew Sara was assigned to work with Grissom, so I knew that she would have come with him. "Nick?" Grissom pulled me to one side, "Are you okay?"

"Fine. I'm fine. Have you heard anything?"

He shook his head as I started to explain what happened. Catherine came out of the ED doors and told us Lindsey was going to be fine. She had changed out of her work clothes and had on a pair of pale green surgical scrubs and had pulled her hair up in a ponytail. "Anything on Eddie yet?"

She shook her head, "No. I know the ambulance got here a little bit ago, but they haven't told me much more than he's here. How did he look?"

I didn't want to lie to her, "Not good. I'm sorry, but it didn't look good. I couldn't tell from where we were if he was breathing or not. Anna and Bryan loaded him into the ambulance so fast that I didn't have time to ask. I caught a ride up here with Vega. He wants to interview Lindsey."

"Can it wait?" Catherine looked over at Detective Vega with her eyes pleading, "Please?" He said that he could wait until she heard something about Eddie. "They took Lindsey down to radiology to take some x-rays. Linds said her ankle was hurting."

About an hour after we had arrived, Anna came out of the ED with Bryan right behind her. I looked over at her and she shook her head slightly to let me know Eddie didn't make it. "Catherine?"

"Yeah?" She stood up and looked at Anna's somber expression. Her hand went to her mouth as she started to back up, "No, no…" Catherine started to shake her head as she kept walking backwards until her legs made contact with a chair and she sat down, "He's, no…He can't be."

Anna sat down next to Catherine while Bryan stayed by me, "The doctor is coming out in a minute to explain what happened."

Catherine stood up quickly and started towards the door of the ED but without access, she couldn't go further than the receptionist's desk. "Let me in!" She started to bang on the door but stepped back when one of the doctors came out, "Eddie Willows. What happened?"

"Are you all family?" She was looking over at the group of us that had assembled in the waiting room, "Do you want some of them to leave?"

"Yes, they are all my family. I'm his ex wife. My daughter was also in the car with him."

The doctor led Catherine over to the same chair she was sitting in earlier and sat down next to her. Anna put her arms around my waist and sighed as I put my left arm over her shoulder and held on to her tightly.

"Mrs. Willows, I'm Dr. Amanda Townsend and I was one of the trauma surgeons working on your husband. There's no easy way to say this but your husband didn't make it. I'm terribly sorry."

Catherine started to cry as Warrick sat on the other side of her. He put his hand on her back and pulled her over to him. She cried into his shoulder as Dr. Townsend explained that they did everything in their power to bring him back, but Eddie was in the water too long to be brought back, "Is there anything we can do? Can we call someone for you?"

Warrick spoke up, "No thank you. We'll take care of her from here."

Dr. Townsend excused herself and left the room. Anna started to leave but Catherine stopped her. "What happened?"

"Catherine, we tried everything we could and I know the doctors here did the same thing. I'm so sorry."

Catherine stood up and started towards Anna, "This is all your fault."

I started to defend Anna, but she stopped me, "Catherine, I'm sorry. We tried. I know you know that." Anna looked down at the floor before returning her gaze upwards. She was trying not to cry. I had seen Anna do that more than once, "Bryan and I have to get back to the station. I'm so sorry about everything. Please say hello to Lindsey for me and let me know if there's anything Nicky or I could do."

When Anna turned to leave with Bryan following her, Catherine reached out and pulled Anna's shoulder until she turned around. Warrick stepped between Anna and Catherine before Catherine could do anything else. When Catherine saw his face and realized what she was about to do, she broke down once again and in between sobs, told Anna how sorry she was. Anna repeated her condolences and we walked out with Bryan behind her.

Bryan left us at the ambulance bay to give us some privacy while he went back inside to get a run report signed. "I'm sorry about Catherine. I'll talk to her."

"No, don't." Anna shook her head, "I know she didn't mean what she said. I've been doing this job long enough to understand grief." The automatic doors behind us opened and Bryan came out with his clipboard in hand and got in the driver's seat of the ambulance, "We've got to head back, but let me know if Catherine needs anything."

It still bugged me that Catherine talked to Anna the way she did, but I let it drop, "I will. I love you, Anna."

She reached up to kiss me before she said she loved me too and got in the ambulance with Bryan. I smiled when Bryan blew me a kiss and Anna slugged him in the shoulder as they left the hospital.

Heading back inside, Grissom assigned Sara and me to process Eddie's car. Lindsey had said that there was another woman in the car and he wanted the two of us to find out who this woman was. I looked around for Catherine, but she had already gone back with Warrick to tell Lindsey that her father had passed away. I said a silent prayer hoping they'd find a way to tell the little girl her father drowned as I turned to head back to the lab to start processing the car.

**A/N: I've been dealing with a bit of writer's block on this story and haven't written much. I was rewatching my CSI DVDs for my other crackfic story when I came across Lady Heather's Box and decided to include it in my story. Kinda bleak, but we're moving along. Reviews are welcomed and encouraged.**

**More backstory on Anna and how she came to be. There will be more wedding details in the upcoming chapters as well as other interesting stuff including the return of Nick's sister. Stay tuned.**


	31. Fields of Gold

**Chapter 31 – Fields of Gold**

**Dealing with some writer's block on this story. I know where I want it to go (the wedding and beyond) but it's getting there that's the problem. I don't just want to skip ahead several months to get where I'm going either. Working on some ideas as we speak to help bridge the gap, including a resolution to the Gemini killer storyline which will come up in the next few chapters and no, Anna, Cathy, Nick or Bryan won't be killed. I promise.**

"Anna?" I was struggling with my tie. Anna had convinced me that I needed to start wearing one to court and since I was like most men, I opted for the ease of a clip on. When she saw my collection, I was told that I needed to start wearing real ones and I reluctantly agreed.

She came in the bedroom, "Yeah?"

I held the instrument of my demise out towards her, "Help?"

Letting out a stifled laugh as she wiped her hands on the back of her jeans, Anna took my tie from me and had me sit on the edge of the bed so she could reach. She sat on her knees behind me and I watched in the reflection of the mirror on the closet door as she tied it and kissed me on my neck just below my left ear when she was done, sending a shiver down my spine, "Done."

I stood up and turned around, picking Anna up and adjusting her to where her right arm was around my neck as I carried her out of my bedroom. "Grab my coat since my hands are otherwise engaged."

She grabbed my coat with her free hand as I carried her up front. Draco saw me carrying Anna and the dog's ears perked up. Even with me living here almost seven months, Draco was still uneasy whenever anyone got close to Anna and I was no exception. She never tried to bite me but her ears remained up, concerned with what was going on. Anna softly told the dog that she was okay but it didn't help. Cassie was nowhere to be seen and Danilla was perched in the Christmas tree about halfway up with her tail hanging out and curled at the bottom around a lower branch. Looking over at our fireplace mantle, I had to smile. We had bought stockings for Cassie and for me and Anna had the stockings embroidered with our names to match the ones she had done for Draco, Danilla and herself. I set Anna down in the living room as she picked up Cassie's stocking which had fallen off of the mantle. "When's court?"

I checked my reflection once more in the mirror above the fireplace mantle as Anna grabbed her BlackBerry and her keys. She was heading into town with me to finish up some last minute Christmas shopping. As scheduling would have it, Anna had to work Christmas Day and the day after and I'd have to work Christmas night so we had decided to do our Christmas on Christmas Eve which was in five days. "In about an hour so we'd better get going."

My court case lasted a couple of hours and when I was done, I waited in the lobby with a uniformed cop I knew on Anna to come pick me up. We rode together back to Summerlin in silence with the radio playing softly in the background. Anna had it tuned to a station that was playing only Christmas music. Normally, Christmas carols and Christmas songs playing all the time would have bored me and I'd be begging for her to change the channel, but as we drove down the Vegas strip on our way home, I caught sight of all of the casinos decorated for the holidays and somehow, it didn't annoy me quite as much. I told Anna it was because she was with me and that broke the silence and after that, I was telling her stories of my family's Christmas traditions back in Texas and had her laughing until tears were streaming down her face at some of the stuff my sisters, brother and I did as kids.

After taking a six hour nap, my alarm clock went off and I rolled over in bed, but Anna was already gone. Stopping in the kitchen to turn on my coffee maker, I found Anna on the floor wrapping what she bought earlier while I was at court. She had her hair pulled back in a ponytail, giving me access to her neck. As the scent of coffee started to fill the room, I sat down on the floor behind her and kissed the back of her neck and saw that she was wrapping a copy of a DVD set of the Toy Story movies, "Let me guess, Bryan?"

Anna laughed, "No, smartass." She pulled a piece of tape she had stuck to her sleeve off and after folding the wrapping paper over, she taped it to the edge of the box, "Though it'll probably wind up at the station at least once. Cody's going through a Toy Story thing right now. Cathy told me they got him a couple of Toy Story toys and asked that I get him the DVDs so I picked those up at the Disney Store while you were in court. I also got your present as well."

"What?"

"Nope. You'll find out tomorrow morning when you get off work and don't even bother to look for it. It's not here." Anna was finished with Cody's DVD set and tossed it under the tree, next to a few more presents for my sisters and brother and their kids plus my parents.

I noticed that as we shopped and wrapped our presents, there wasn't anything for Anna's family in the pile. I didn't question her as to why because I already knew the answer for her lack of presents for them. Sighing as the truth hit me, I pulled Anna closer to me and wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to her feet as I stood up, "Merry almost Christmas, Anna." Pulling her back to the bedroom, we had a few hours before I had to be at work and we made good use of that time.

Twelve hours after I left home, I was yawning as I parked my Tahoe behind my truck which was in its spot under the carport. The house was dark except for the porch lights Anna left on for me and the motion light on the edge of the house which turned on when I drove towards the front of the house. Reaching over to grab my work bag, I stopped myself mid yawn as I opened the door and went inside.

As customary, Cassie was waiting for me at the door. Draco was probably wherever Anna was and as I reached down to turn the lights on to the tree, Danilla hissed at me from her perch in the branches. I reached through and was surprised when she let me pet her without swatting at my hand, "You're gonna be pissed when we take this down next week. Where will you hide then?" Not wanting to press my luck with the cat, I quit petting her and plugged in the lights on the tree and went to find Anna.

Rounding the corner in the bedroom to throw my work vest and shoes in the closet, I caught sight of her in bed with the covers half over her. Her right leg was stuck out from under the blankets and she was on her side with her hair mostly covering her face. Draco was on Anna's side of the bed and stood up next to me as I sat down on the bed and started to brush hair out of Anna's face as I kissed her hand, "Merry Christmas."

"Mmmm…" Anna grumbled and stuck her hands under the pillow.

"Come on. Get up."

I started to pull on the back of her arm and reluctantly, she rolled over and yawned. Draco moved to get a better view as Anna started to stretch. I held out my hand and Anna took it as she stood up slowly and yawned once again, "I just got to bed about an hour before you got home." She reached over and put on her fuzzy sequined purple house shoes and grabbed her glasses off of the table on her side of the bed before she started towards me.

"This won't take long. Now come on." I started to pull Anna with me and she stumbled but managed to catch herself on the wall before I heard her yawn again.

I had already plugged the Christmas tree in when I got home a few minutes ago and I could tell from where we were that Danilla hadn't moved from her position in the tree. By now, the branches on the edge of the tree were flat on one side from supporting her weight. I let Anna's hand go and she fell into the couch before yawning again and watching me. I knew she didn't have a clue as to what I had gotten her, but unbeknownst to her, I had Bryan's help to make sure what I had gotten her would work.

"Merry Christmas. Sort of..." I handed Anna the box with the hockey jersey in it. I had gotten her a San Jose Sharks jersey with the name and number of her favorite player on it. She looked at me before she tore into the gold and red Christmas wrapping paper.

"Aaahhh!" I laughed, not expecting her to have that reaction for a jersey, especially considering how sleepy she was. She held it up and flipped it over before trying it on by draping it across her chest. "You are the best fiancé ever. I love you."

"I love you too but that's part one." I held the envelope with the hockey tickets in it. "This is part two and Bryan helped me with these."

"Oh Jesus. I'm afraid." Anna opened the envelope and let it fall to the floor as she stared at two hockey tickets for an upcoming game in San Jose, "Oh my hell…I see why you got me the jersey." Still with the tickets in her hand, she knocked me over, almost causing me to fall on Cassie who was watching Anna's reaction from behind me. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you."

"You're welcome. Nice to see you're awake now at least." With Anna still in my lap, I managed to sit up. Draco came over and sat down in front of us, her brown eyes fixed on Anna while Cassie went to lie down on the wood flooring in the living room, her body causing a thud when she flopped over. Anna got up and petted Draco and reached up and grabbed the dog's stocking off the mantle and handed Draco a new piece of rawhide. She went to her corner of the room and ignoring the hisses from Danilla who was still in the tree, Draco went to work on her new chew toy. "So where's mine?"

"Right here." Anna reached in the tree, almost to the other side, and pulled out a box. "I figured you wouldn't look back there. It was here the whole time."

The box Anna handed me was small and wrapped in the same wrapping paper that she was using to wrap Cody's DVD set. I tore the edge of the paper and opened the box and found an envelope inside the box from the dean's office at the University of Texas. After giving Anna a quizzical glance, she motioned for me to open the envelope and when I did, an official piece of paper with the letterhead from the dean's office was folded up inside and as I read it, I saw it was signed by the Dean of Students and that the letter was to be traded in on two tickets to the upcoming Texas and Arkansas game that was scheduled in Texas this fall. "Anna…" I was floored, "How'd you manage this?"

"Figured we'd watch the Horns lose together."

I stared down at the letter in my hand and pulled her to me again with my other hand as I kissed her neck again, "Thank you. I was trying to get tickets to this game but it's not until next year. I wanted it to be a surprise for you, but you beat me to it. How'd you do this? They're not on sale to the general public until after Memorial Day."

"Your father has many connections in Texas. He was thrilled when I told him what I wanted. I told him we'd stay there at their house. By then, we'll be married so no separate bedrooms. Your father promised to help me get a voucher for the tickets as long as I didn't gloat too much when my Hogs won. However, if they lost, I have to wear Horns gear the rest of the time there including some ridiculous headband looking thing with plastic horns coming out of it. I considered it a fair trade." Anna returned the kiss I gave her as she leaned her head back on my shoulder and yawned, "Of course, you'll have to take off work."

"Consider it done."

"I just figured it'd be a nice surprise for you and a chance to see your family." Anna was folding up the wrapping paper to the box and she had a look on her face I didn't quite understand, "Seeing as how I know you miss them so much."

After thanking her again, and holding her tightly when I realized the look she gave me was about her own family, Anna got up when my coffee maker signaled the brew was done. By the time I got back, she had put her jersey on and was on the couch watching A Christmas Story. I sat down next to her just in time to see the famous lamp scene where the father pulled the lamp out of the wooden box for the first time. "Please don't ever ask me for a lamp like that." Anna was looking up at me from where she was lying. She had put a pillow in my lap and was lying on that with her feet hanging off the edge of the couch, resting on Draco's back. "I'll have you committed."

"Not my style. Now if you'd let me get that Longhorns lamp out of storage…" That lamp was one of the few things I had kept from my old apartment and if my parents hadn't given it to me when I started college, I would have trashed it along with most of my furniture from my old apartment. It held too much sentimental value for me to toss it out with the Target bookcase and the Wal-Mart end tables I had acquired when I rented my apartment after moving to Las Vegas.

"You can get it out of storage as long as it goes on your side of the bed. Course, I can also get my Razorback lamp out and put it on my side. We can have half the room painted in Longhorns colors and have half painted in Razorback red." Anna started to laugh, "I've heard of that happening before. I don't know where I'd put the San Jose Sharks teal in though." As another favorite scene of Anna's came on TV after a commercial break, she and I both laughed as the scenes played out on the movie before Bryan, Cathy and Cody came by to celebrate Christmas a day early with us as both Bryan and Anna would be at work tomorrow.

A little over a month after Christmas, I was in the lobby of McCarran International Airport waiting on my sister's plane to land. Anna had told Jillian she'd pick her up, but she and Brian were held up at work and asked me to pick her up. As exhausted as I was from working, I was contemplating sleeping on the benches behind me near the exit, but decided against it. I checked the arrival board for the fifth time since I had arrived and it showed Jillian's plane to have landed about half an hour ago, but she was nowhere to be seen. Giving up for the moment, I gave in to my tired body telling me to sit.

"Nicky!"

Looking up, my sister was jogging towards me, pulling her carry on behind her. I stood up again as I met her in front of the arrival boards, "Jilly."

"Where's Anna?"

"Love you too, sister." Jillian hugged me as she looked over my shoulder, "Anna's still at work. They had a late callout and are still at work finishing up on a scene. She got stuck on the engine last night and they're out at a pretty big fire on the outskirts of Vegas. Most of the alarm companies in the department are out there."

After promising my sister that Anna was going to meet us when she was done, Jillian and I talked the whole way to baggage claim as she caught me up on the happenings in Texas. My mother had sent along our Christmas presents with my sister and that resulted in two more checked pieces of luggage for my sister to lug with her to Vegas. She finished with the news in Texas and I gave her the brief rundown of the wedding plans so far. "So when can I see Anna?"

I shut the door to my Tahoe after Jillian got in, resisting the urge to shut it on her hand for ignoring me. After getting in and starting the truck, I backed out of the spot and told Jillian that we were meeting her at a coffee shop inside one of the hotels that was next door to the bridal shop Anna was using for her dresses. "She said she'd call me when she's on her way. It's about eleven now, so they should be here any time now. Anna said the callout was at six, so they've been on scene five hours. I know she'll be excited to see you."

"Likewise. Nervous yet?"

"Nope." Shaking my head, I hoped I was convincing enough to keep Jillian from realizing how nervous I was getting with the approaching wedding date, "Not at all."

"Liar. You have to be. I was a nervous wreck before my wedding. I threw up in the bathroom for a solid hour and a half."

I assured Jillian I wasn't nervous yet, but she wasn't convinced, telling me I was going to get even more nervous as the weeks went by. Anna called in the middle of my conversation, saving me from more embarrassment, telling us that she was going to shower at the station and she'd be on her way. Bryan wanted to meet my sister and I agreed to allow him to tag along and meet her before the wedding.

While on the phone, I pointed out a Starbucks that was just outside of one of the casinos to my sister and told Anna to meet us there. I ordered a latte for me and Jillian ordered a frappachino for herself. We were served quickly and found a seat relatively close to the door. I started in telling Jillian more about Bryan since she was curious as to why he'd want to meet her. "He's like her brother. Of course he'd want to meet his soon to be sister in law."

"Bryan doesn't bother you?" Jillian took another drink from her frappachino and shook her head, "Anna being that close to Bryan for that much doesn't bother you? I'd be wound up tight if my husband had a friend like that."

I sighed, getting tired of defending Anna and Bryan to everyone, "No, it doesn't. If you could see the two of them, you'd understand what I mean. They're like…" I stopped as I tried to think of a way to describe the two of them, "They're not romantic, it's more like brother and sister, but closer. Twins almost. I have heard them joke about being twins separated at birth more than once. If it wasn't for the more than foot of height difference between them, I'd believe it."

"Twins can be fraternal rather than identical. They don't have to look alike. So it honestly doesn't bother you?"

"How many times to I have to keep defending her to everyone? They've known each other their entire lives. They were born minutes apart and were even next to each other in the nursery at the hospital. When Anna's own family ignored her which was for the better part of her childhood, she found solstice at Bryan's. I've listened to the stories of her childhood and most, if not all, of the happy memories have Bryan in there somewhere. I trust Anna. I trust Bryan. Anna is Bryan's cheerleader and he's her biggest supporter, next to me of course, and has been forever."

"And that's all? You're sure?"

I could feel the anger rising. Everyone I knew doubted Anna and Bryan and I was getting tired of defending my actions as well as hers, "Yes. There's nothing there between them and there never has been. Where'd all this come from?" Jillian shrugged her shoulders and took another drink from her frappachino, not bothering to answer me. I could tell by the doubt in her eyes that she held reservations, "That's it. End of story."

After my rant, I slammed my coffee cup on the table a little harder than I intended to. The lid wasn't properly secured and it fell off and a small amount of hot coffee splashed on my hand. Jillian passed a few napkins my way and apologized, "I'm just looking out for you. I just hope you're telling the truth about it not bothering you."

"Jillian, it doesn't bother me. If anything, I'm jealous." I saw my sister's posture straighten up. I knew she was about to say she was right but I stopped her, "But not about that."

Jillian had taken the top off of her drink and was mixing the whipped cream on the top with the rest of it while she spoke, "Then of what?"

"How close they are. I don't have a friend like that, other than Anna. Anna's known Bryan her whole life. I've only known Anna for just shy of a year. I'm not jealous of Bryan and never have been. I guess I'm just jealous that she's got a friend like that. Not many people do."

"But you have me." Jillian had a goofy smile on her face as she tilted her head to the side, "And what better sister could you ever ask for?"

"Allison?"

"I hate you." She folded her arms across her chest and pretended to pout, but it didn't last long.

"You love me. Everyone loves me."

"Even Anna?"

I didn't know how to respond, "Nope. She hates my breathing guts. We're just putting up a farce to keep mom and dad off my back." I took another drink from my latte before I responded, "What on earth possessed you to ask that? I wouldn't have given her the ring or asked her to marry me if she didn't."

"Nicky, mom and I both had a talk after you two left Texas. Mom absolutely adores Anna. I like her too and so do Allison and Marissa but you can't forget what she did to you." Jillian had a pained look on her face as she continued, "I didn't physically see you during the months that the two of you were apart, but I could hear it in your voice. She crushed you."

"What she did to me? What about what I did to her?"

Jillian was confused, "I don't get it."

I tightened my grip on the wrought iron chair I was sitting in to keep from losing my cool in public, "We've since made up for it and have moved on." My sister's look changed from the one she had a moment ago to a look of disbelief, "Anna got shot. She got shot because of me. Me! Nigel Crane found us and shot her because of me. Anna killed him because of me. Anna was in the hospital for almost six weeks because of me. Nigel's insane lunatic liar sister found Anna because of me. I don't blame Anna for running away like she did. Hell, I'd do it too."

"You didn't tell me this, or at least not all of it. I knew Anna got shot and I knew the cliff notes version of what happened after, but you didn't tell anyone about the sister."

"No, I didn't. How do you think that'd go over with mom if I told her everything?" I exhaled sharply as I held my phone up to my ear to fake a phone conversation to make my point, "What am I gonna say? 'Hi mom! No, I'm fine. Remember the guy Anna shot and killed to save my life? Yeah. Him. Well, his deranged sister found us and started harassing us and that's the real reason Anna ran off and left me brokenhearted and crushed for two months.' Jillian, please. Mom would never sleep again knowing what was going on. There are some aspects of my job that she knows happen to me but she doesn't want me to confirm. I guess the ignorance helps her sleep." I was beginning to get annoyed with my sister's presence, "Is this the real reason you came here? To annoy the hell out of me about Anna?"

"No, Nicky. No." Jillian finished off the rest of her frappachino before she resumed her explanation, "I'm worried about you. That's all. I don't know Anna as well as you do. I just want to make sure that everything that happened in the past is forgiven and you're not making some colossal mistake that you have to overcome in the future."

"I'm fine. Anna and I are fine. We're better than fine. Anything else?"

"No. That's all I needed to know."

I knew my sister well enough to know that she wasn't about to drop the subject. I knew I had to change the subject before Anna showed up to take Jillian off my hands to get her bridesmaids dress fitted, "How's my newest niece?" Tyler's wife had their first baby about two weeks before Christmas. Anna and I had gotten a phone call to let us know that the baby girl was doing fine and they had settled on the name Michelle which was my brother's mother in law's middle name. My mother had sent me a few pictures of the baby in the Christmas card that Anna and I had gotten just a few days before Christmas.

"Fine. She looks just like Tyler. Poor unfortunate soul. Mom is doting of course and that always brings up the subject of Ryan and me having children. I can only imagine how it's gonna be as soon as you and Anna get married. You'll barely be back from your honeymoon and the guilt trip phone calls will start. Where are you going anyway?"

"We haven't decided yet. Actually, I haven't decided yet. Wherever it is, I won't tell you." I stood up and shoved my chair under the table and tossed my now empty coffee cup in the trash can near to where we were sitting, "You'll run straight to Anna and blabber and this will be a surprise."

Jillian looked hurt, "I will not. I promise. Now where are you going?"

I shook my head as MMMBop started to play on my phone, signaling me that Anna was calling, "Not gonna happen. You'll blabber to her and ruin it just like you did with our brother." I flipped my phone open and I could hear Anna on the other end sneezing, "Allergies?"

She sounded like she had a sinus problem, "Yeah. I think being out at that fire for the past five hours didn't help much. I downed some allergy meds before I left the station. Where are y'all?"

Jillian started motioning for me to give her the phone but I swatted her hand, "We're at the Starbucks just next to the Monaco casino. I know you said that dress shop was around here somewhere."

"Great. I'll be there in a few."

Anna and I hung up and I turned my attention back to Jillian, asking her to elaborate more on my newest niece. I knew that'd keep her entertained enough until Anna got there.

About twenty minutes later, Anna's Xterra pulled into an empty parking spot next to my Tahoe and Jillian was up and heading outside before Anna even got out of the truck. I smiled as they hugged in the parking lot like long lost sisters and came inside. Anna stopped at the counter long enough to order a strawberry frappachino before taking the empty seat next to mine. I waited on Anna to finish her drink before I announced I was heading home to catch up on my sleep before I fell asleep at Starbucks.

After kissing me goodbye, Anna and Jillian left to go dress shopping and I headed home, thankful to finally get some sleep.

**A/N: Reviews are welcome and encouraged. Anonymous reviews are allowed. I work hard on my stories and seeing as how I don't get paid, reviews are the only payment I get. It makes me feel good to know that people are reading my story and then taking the time out of their lives to leave me a line, even if it's "I love it! More please." Anything is better than nothing.**

**The wedding will be coming up in the next couple of chapters. :)**


	32. Second Chance

**Chapter 32 – Second Chance**

**A heartfelt thank you to those who review.** **Du fond de ma coeur, merci beaucoup.**

Anna and Jillian got back from their dress fitting right at the time I was pulling the lasagna I was making out of the oven. The aroma of the food sent both of them towards the kitchen. Cassie and Draco were at the edge of the kitchen, watching me intently as they hoped I'd drop something on the floor for them to clean up. "Nicky?"

"Kitchen."

Jillian came into the kitchen first, followed by Anna, "My brother can cook."

Anna sneezed, "He cooks pretty well actually. Do we have any Zyrtec left? That fire earlier really got me all worked up. I didn't see any in the bathroom."

"Check my work bag. I think I threw it in there. Mine were bothering me, too." Anna left and headed towards the bedroom where my work bag was, "Find your dress?"

"Yep." My sister held up a black and gray garment bag, "I'm not sure if I'm allowed to show you the dress though. I know Anna said something about you not seeing her gown. I've seen it by the way. Nice."

"What does it look like?"

"No." Jillian left to go hang her garment bag up as Anna came into the kitchen holding the bottle of allergy medication, "No. No. No." She playfully swatted me across the back, "No. You're not gonna trick anyone about seeing my dress. Your sister is under penalty of death if she says one word about it as is Allison and your mother."

"My own mother saw it?"

Jillian looked proud of herself as she came up front, obviously having heard the conversation, "Yep. I sent her a picture when Anna had it on earlier today. She looks great by the way. Very tastefully done. Absolutely perfect and don't think about looking for the photo in my phone. It's been deleted and I asked mom to destroy all evidence after she saw it."

Pouting as I finished making the salad to go along with our dinner, Anna took a couple of allergy pills and went to lie down in the living room with Jillian. I put the garlic bread in the oven to heat up while the two of them played Wii. I heard Anna cheering when her player made a jump shot in the basketball game that she and I were trying to play last night. I learned Anna may not like basketball, but she kicks ass on the Wii. When I looked at the TV to tell them dinner was ready, Jillian admitted defeat and ended the game with a dismal score of 20-6.

As we ate, I got to hear snippets of the wedding plans. We had ordered our invitations and they came in earlier in the week. Jillian said she'd help address a few of them before she left. I did get to see her bridesmaid gown as well as Allison's but any time I tried to ask about Anna's dress, Anna gave me the death stare from across the table. "You've got three months. You'll live." She picked my plate up as she kissed me, "I promise you, you'll live."

"What if I die before I get to see you in it?"

"Not funny, brother." Anna was in the kitchen with the water running in the sink and didn't hear me, "Considering what the two of you have been through already, I wouldn't make jokes like that."

Jillian had a point, "Fine. I retract my previous statement."

"And what was that?" Anna took her spot at the table again, "What'd I miss?" She pinched off a small section from the garlic bread and held it out for Draco. Draco gently took it from Anna and went to lie down in the living room, away from us.

Cassie was still standing at attention beside me, wanting her treat also. I pinched off a portion of the bread for her, but rather than the graceful reaction Draco gave, Cassie about took off my hand. I pulled my hand back and made her take it gently and on the third time, the dog finally realized what was going on and repeated Draco's actions. "I was telling Jillian I was going to start blabbing family secrets if she didn't tell me something about your dress until she gently reminded me that she had plenty of family secrets to spill of her own."

"Then my brother wised up. I have just as much dirt on him as he does on me."

After we finished dessert, we went back to the living room so Anna and Jillian could have their go at the Wii again. We didn't play long before Anna said she wanted to take a nap and after I watched her leave the room, Jillian tossed me the remote Anna was using and dared me to beat her in basketball.

Settling in as we played, Jillian was actually better than I thought. I let her win the first two games, but stomped her on the next two. With the series tied at two games each, we started the fifth game, knowing that the winner got Stokes family bragging rights.

"I hope you know what you're doing."

"I do." I shook the Wii remote and stole the ball away from my sister's player, "I just stole the ball."

"I meant Anna."

"So you're still thinking that Anna and I are doomed to fail?"

"Nope." Jillian shook her head as she pulled one of her legs on the couch and bent at the knee, she sat on her ankle, "You'll both live happily ever after on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays from noon to four."

I threw a pillow at my sister. She tossed it back at me, knocking the Wii remote out of my hand, "Just for that, you're going down."

"Nick, like I said earlier, we're just concerned. This just happened so fast. One minute, you meet, the next she gets shot then she leaves and then you're engaged and now you're getting married."

"That's how it normally happens, minus the getting shot part. Jillian, I love her. She loves me. End of story. Dot it, file it, stick it in a box marked done. If you have a problem with that, there's not much I can do."

"I just don't want to see you get hurt again." Jillian sighed as she hit the pause button on her Wii remote so we could talk uninterrupted, "Something just bothers me about all of this."

"And that is?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. Maybe because Anna hasn't apologized for what she did to you? I don't know."

"Anna has apologized for leaving. I've apologized for putting her in that position which led to her leaving."

"You apologized?" My sister looked angry, "You apologized because she left?"

"Damn it." My voice was louder than I wanted it to be, "Did you not hear what I said yesterday at Starbucks? Anna getting shot was my fault, Jill. Mine! You need to clean the earwax out of your ears or something."

"She's the one that left you."

"After I got her shot! After I did this to her."

"Still. I wouldn't have left."

I pulled the pillow I threw at my sister to my face and screamed, hoping Anna wouldn't hear me. "I'm glad you wouldn't think you'd leave. I'm happy for you but for the last time, until you've walked a mile in her shoes, don't judge my future wife."

"I just don't understand." Jillian hit the pause button on her remote to start the game, but I paused it back, "What?"

"You can't just make a statement like that and expect me to roll over and play dead. I'm not going to have you in our house bashing Anna for what she did. Christ, Jill. The man stalked us. The man had cameras in our apartment and watched us." I didn't want to go into the details of what Nigel Crane had to have seen when he watched his tapes, "We were his goldfish in a bowl. His pets. When he got tired of us, he tried to kill us. I was planning on taking Anna to Texas for a couple of months to get away from Las Vegas but his sister found us and spooked her."

"I know you must think I'm some sort of bitch…" I suppressed an angry laugh, "Fine. I am a bitch, but I'm also your sister and seeing as how we share DNA, it's my familial obligation to look out for you."

"Do Mom and Allison hate Anna as much as you do?"

"Nicky…" Jillian put her Wii remote on the couch and brought both of her knees to her chest, "I don't hate Anna. I hate what she did to you. I hate what she put you through."

"And you don't think I hate myself for what I did to her, too?"

"You do know I can hear you, right?"

I looked over my shoulder at the same time Jillian looked over hers. Anna was standing in the doorway that led from the hallway and back to our room, "Oh damn." I tossed my controller on the sofa and got up, but Jillian stopped me. I sat back down as I watched her approach Anna, "Jillian?"

"I got this."

Before the fireworks started, my phone rang. At this late hour, it could only be work. After dismissing the thought of throwing my phone in the fireplace, I answered it. "Hello?"

"Nick?"

"Yeah."

It was Grissom. I knew what he was about to ask me. "I need you to come in. We've got a case."

I groaned, "Grissom, I'm off for the rest of the week. My sister's here."

"I know that, but I need you to come in. White lily and the card. It's all here. Get over here now. We're near Lake Mead. Dispatch has the address and directions." Grissom's voice was firm, "We have got to help PD get a handle on this."

"On my way." I left the Wii remote on the couch and headed back to our bedroom to grab my boots. When I came back up front, Anna was waiting by the front door, holding out my cell phone and my keys with my sister right behind her. "I'm sorry." I kissed her as I took my keys and phone from her, "I am so sorry." Looking over at Jillian, I prayed I wouldn't come home to a bloodbath, "Take it easy on my wife to be, please. I'd hate to have to come home to a crime scene at my own home."

Jillian swore she'd be nice, "Anna and I have some talking to do. I won't kill her. I promise."

With a smile that was unmistakably my sister's, I had to take her at her word and apologized to Anna again. She responded with a shrug of her shoulders, "Is all good. I understand. I love you, Nicky."

"Love you too." I opened the door as I kissed Anna again and stepped out into the chilly night air as I did my best to keep Cassie from coming out with me. Anna grabbed her collar and pulled her back as I moved away from the door.

As I backed out of the driveway, I realized I forgot my jacket. As I parked my truck to run back in and get it, Anna had met me halfway down the driveway. After another kiss and an assurance that she wouldn't let things get of hand with my sister, I got the jacket from her and left, headed in to work.

Since I was already in my Tahoe, I didn't bother to stop by the lab before I went to the scene. I pulled in behind a few LVPD cars and parked and after getting my field kit out, I started up the sidewalk towards the front of the house. It wasn't a large house and the neighborhood was well kept with lots of trees. Glancing across the street, a park with an unobstructed view of Lake Mead was just beyond that. It was a perfect neighborhood up until now.

When I got inside after checking in with the officer at the front door, I found Grissom and David in the bedroom at the back of the house. Stepping inside the room, I watched as Grissom crouched down as he pulled his gloves from his field kit. I started to bring my camera around towards the front of me so I could start taking overalls as David worked beside Grissom on the preliminary cause of death. As I looked around the room, trying to get a feel for the crime scene, my thoughts were interrupted by the sound of latex gloves from Grissom and David. The young woman lay on her back, her eyes open but the life was gone. Never getting used to the cold, blank stare coming from a dead body, I grimaced as I watched her, wishing that when people died, they closed their eyes like they did in the movies. I had seen this scene hundreds of times but every time I saw a victim dead with their eyes open, it still hurt. Her life was cut short; ended abruptly. I could only imagine as I waited on the two of them to finish up what her last thoughts were.

"Nick?"

I pulled myself out of my self induced scene fog and focused my attention back on Grissom, "Yeah?"

"When I got here, the smell of copper was saturating the air." He turned to face me as David and his assistant walked by. Grissom inched closer to me to give the two of them room, "You know what this means? It means that the crime was fresh." He held up the single tulip with the yellow ribbon, "Single white tulip with the satin yellow ribbon and the Gemini symbol on a plain white business card. She's what? Number three?"

"Yeah." I got an evidence bag out of my field kit and blanched as I held it open for Grissom and he dropped the flower, ribbon and all, into the bag. I silently watched as I felt my fingers close the bag and I gently laid it back on top of my field kit. The blood from a large wound across the victim's throat stained the beige quilt on her bed beneath her. The crimson pool spread past the fabric and into the sheet and was starting to drip down to the wood flooring in her room and her tangled hair lay in her own blood. From my view of the scene, I could tell that she was a blonde, just the same as the two other victims. "You think that he only goes after blondes or you think this is just a coincidence?"

"Nick, you know by now I don't believe in coincidences." Grissom reached in his kit for a fingernail scraper as David got out his liver temperature monitor and stuck it as gently as he could through our victim's stomach. "That's just another piece of the puzzle he left behind. With every piece he leaves behind, that's one more piece we have to solve the case. Sheriff Atwater is going to be all over this."

Greg remained still as he entered the room. I could only imagine what was playing out with him as he took sight of what was going on. With Catherine out of town on a school trip with Lindsey and Sara attending a conference in Phoenix, Grissom had called Greg and Warrick in to assist. As he stood in the corner, he never took his eyes off the woman's face, whose complexion continued to ashen right in front of him. The woman's mouth was partially open as if suddenly surprised by what happened to her. Her right arm was straight out in front of her with her left behind her on the pillow. With the amount of blood at the scene, even the pillow had not been spared from being covered. Blood spatter was behind the bed on the wall and there was a trail of blood drops leading towards the master bathroom, "Killer washed up in the bathroom?" Grissom followed the trail with his eyes when I pointed it out, "The blood drops lead in there."

"Body's clear for you guys." David stood up, breaking the silence. I saw out of the corner of my eye Greg's slight jump in reaction to being startled by David speaking, "We're done."

Grissom stayed where he was, kneeled down next to the bed. "Alright. Warrick, see if you can find any trace of how he got here. Fingerprints, shoe prints, tire tracks, hairs, DNA or anything to indicate who was here with our victim." Warrick looked relieved to be able to leave the room and after grabbing his field kit, he darted out the front door, nearly knocking down Mitch, who was standing in the doorway with David's assistant.

David and his assistant came over with a stretcher, ready to transport the latest Gemini victim back to the lab for an autopsy. He carefully placed his hands under the body and with the help of his assistant, lifted the woman carefully, but it still didn't stop the woman's limp arms falling to her sides. Grissom shined his flashlight around the now empty bed spread, not noticing anything besides the blood pool.

Greg remained behind alongside me, "How do you guys...I mean, how do you get used to this? She's…" He looked over at David who was loosely tying a white piece of rope around the woman's wrists to keep them bound together during transport. The sound of the body bag's zipper could be heard as Grissom mumbled to himself about something as he reached into his kit for a pair of tweezers. "This is just…violent."

I turned to look at him, my face as compassionate as I could be as I tried to remain passive. "You don't. You deal with it. You keep your eyes focused on the job then you channel everything into the case. Use your training. You passed the field tests. You have the experience."

Greg looked down at his feet as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves. "You and Grissom just seem so collected."

"Grissom…" My eyes wandered over towards my supervisor as he was inches from the bedspread with his head tilted to the side, something obviously catching his curiosity, "You know how Grissom is with everything." I snapped on my gloves as I kept my eyes on Grissom, "It's called detachment, Greg. Something you'll learn."

"This is why I do this." Grissom stood up and held out his tweezers towards me. In the darkness of the room, I strained to see what he was so proud about. Pulling my flashlight out of my vest pocket, I switched it on and in the beam of the light was a single human hair, securely fastened in the ends of Grissom's tweezers. "Root tag still attached. The victim was a blonde. This hair is darker, almost has a red tint to it."

I don't know why but a flashback of Anna sick in Grissom's office at the lab that night after Nigel Crane tried to set her up for murdering that girl played out in my mind. I shook my head, shaking out the memory as I handed Grissom an evidence envelope, "Short. I didn't see any photos of a boyfriend when I came in. Could be the killer."

"Or it could be a random hookup." Greg finally spoke more than a few words since he got here. His voice was more confident than it had been earlier.

"Nick, process the bathroom. I'll stay here. Greg, go with David back to the lab for the post. We'll meet up when we're done here."

"Griss?" Greg's voice was soft, "Can I stay and do the bathroom?"

I shrugged my shoulders when Grissom asked me if it was okay to swap assignments, "Fine. Nick, you go with David back to the lab and Greg, you'll take the bathroom."

Not understanding why Greg wanted to change assignments, I left the bedroom and carefully made my way outside and headed back to the lab.

When I got to the morgue, David was just bringing the woman's body inside the autopsy room. I stood back as he carefully placed her body on top of the stainless steel table and started to unzip the body bag. I moved in closer and started to photograph what was going on for our case file.

"Victim is a Caucasian female, appears to be between the ages of 30 and 40." Doc Robbins approached the body as David cut the rope on her hands, "Defensive wounds on her left hand and right forearm." Placing her arm back on the table, he moved up to the victim's head and upper torso area, "Large cut across the throat with blood loss likely as the COD."

I moved to the other side of the table as David stepped back, "I'll need to get the fingernail scrapings."

"David?" Doc Robbins looked over and David brought back a kit, "I haven't seen one of these in a while. David said it was a Gemini?"

"Yeah." I watched as Doc Robbins opened the kit and started to scrape our Jane Doe's fingernails, "White card with the flower and ribbon. She's number three."

"He's been gone a while. Hasn't been one lately. Copycat?"

"I don't know just yet. This victim was slashed. The others weren't." He handed me the scrape sticks and I put them into evidence bags and tossed them on top of my kit. I'd drop them off with DNA on my way back upstairs, "Anything sticking out with you?"

"My assistant was right." Doc Robbins pointed at the large cut that went from right below the lady's jaw line and all the way across her throat. "COD was from exsanguination. He got a little violent with this one. He used a single large blade across the jugular. Death was within minutes but I bet you knew that one already. She's the third but he intensified on this one. The other two weren't killed like this."

Grissom came in and said that he left Greg and Warrick at the house to finish processing, "I wanted to observe. How far along in the autopsy are you?"

"Just started. Before you came in, Nick made a comment that the other two weren't killed like this and to answer his question, no, they weren't." Doc Robbins prepared to do the Y incision which was something I didn't want to see.

"Broken neck on the first two. This one…" Grissom trailed off as he studied the woman's body. "Something about her is different from the first two. It's almost as if he…" Trailing off a second time, he looked at Doc Robbins before staring at me and abruptly leaving the room, the sound of the swinging metal doors behind me was the only sound in the room.

"Okay then." Doc Robbins had aborted the Y incision with me still in the room and had picked up one of the victim's hands and was printing her. "No ID on the body. I was about to send this print card up to Mandy but you'll save me a trip if you don't mind."

"Yeah." Doc Robbins handed me the case folder with his results inside, "They're on their way up now."

I grabbed my kit and my camera and tucked the case file under my arm as I got ready to leave. Dropping the print card off with Mandy, I found Grissom in his office, pouring over the old case files from the other two Gemini murders. After spending the next couple hours going over old notes and making observations about the similarities between this case and the other two, Grissom said I could head back home since I was on vacation. Relieved to be going home, but nervous at the same time of what happened between Anna and my sister, I left the evidence I had collected with Grissom and told him to call me if he needed me.

"Nick?"

Mandy stopped me on my way out and was behind me holding a printout, "Your victim's prints were on file. Her name is Mara Sawyer."

Taking the printout, I saw it was a criminal printout, "What'd she do?"

"Animal rights activist. She got arrested demonstrating in front of the Mirage a few years back. Apparently, her group was concerned over how the animals in Siegfried and Roy's stage shows were treated."

"Thanks." I left her in the hallway and gave Grissom the printout and headed home.

Relieved to be home and not see blood everywhere or anything broken, I found my sister and Anna in the living room, playing Wii once again, "Everything go okay?"

"Yep." Anna yanked her hand up and with it, scored another basket, "Ha."

"We're fine. We had a nice chat after you left us." Jillian yawned and admitted defeat before hugging me and heading back to bed.

I took a seat next to Anna who confirmed that she and Jillian had a talk, "Your sister was just looking out for you. She didn't know the whole story behind my trip to Arkansas. I explained to her what happened, sparing the gory details of course, and told her about why I left. We talked for about three hours and got it all out in the open."

"So the two of you are…"

"Best of friends by now."

I let Anna fill me in on what happened with my sister while I was gone. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the two of them had a very decent conversation with no bloodshed or loss of limbs. "Nick, don't be mad at her. She's just your sister and she's looking out for her. She's looking out the same way Bryan looks out for me."

"So you and Bryan have had the same conversations that Jill and I have had?"

"Yep." Anna moved in closer to me and leaned against my side as she draped one arm across my stomach, "We did. We've had several conversations about you. In the beginning, Bryan blamed you for why I left."

"You never told me."

"No. Bryan asked that I not. It was only after I was in Colorado with my cousin that he realized you had nothing to do with why I left. It was all me and my messed up mind. After that point, it was trying to get me to come back to you and to him. Anyway, Bryan and I had several heart to heart talks after I got back about you. He likes you, so that's not the problem. He was just worried that something may happen to you at work or something. I shut him up when I reminded him that our job was more dangerous than yours. You collect evidence. We climb on top of burning buildings wearing a hundred pounds of fire fighting gear."

"And the consensus of Bryan's was what?"

"You can live." Anna smiled, "Bryan never objected to you the way Jillian did to me, but I understand why she did. You also never told me your sister is named after your mother."

"Yeah. My mother's name is Jillian Patricia Stokes, but she has always gone by Patricia since my sister was born. Dad said Jill looked just like mom when she was born."

"Newfound fact from the Stokes family vault. In any event, Jillian and I are now best of friends and yes, she'll still be in the wedding."

The next few days went by in a blur. Jillian hadn't been to Vegas in quite some time and with all the new shows and attractions, Anna and I did our best to play the good hosts we were and tried to cram as many shows and features in within the four days we had together. The one thing my sister did want to see was the dancing water at the Bellagio and after seeing the show six times in three days, I couldn't handle seeing it again.

Before I knew it, I was standing in McCarran International Airport once again, saying goodbye to my sister who was apologizing profusely for being an asshat to Anna, "I hope she's not mad."

I hugged my sister, "No, she's not. She understands why you did what you did. I'm just glad it all worked out."

Jillian picked up her travel bag after she gave her suitcase to the attendant at the desk to check, "The bridesmaids' dresses are in that. I hope they don't get lost or Anna will get pissed. I guess I'll see you in what, couple months?"

"Yep. I'll see you in May."

After another hug and after Jillian started crying, I walked her to the security gate and watched as she went through the metal detectors before disappearing from view.

I went back home and fell asleep. Anna was at work, so I had the house to myself and slept soundly until it was time to head into work myself.

After a quick trip by the fire station to check on Anna, the fireman she and Bryan referred to as Jester said they were on a run, but he'd tell them that I came by later on. I sent Anna a text just in case and went in to work.

I was playing catch up in the lab when Catherine found me. She was showing me the print card and was going over her notes when we started going over the victim's credit card statements and I noticed a charge for an online dating service, "Online dating. What has the world come to?"

"Lindsey wants me to sign up for an online dating service. I told her I didn't want to."

"Why? She thinks you're lonely or something?"

Catherine shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know. She wants me to be happy I guess. I told her I am but she didn't believe me. I've thought about it, but it takes a special someone to understand this job. Too bad Anna doesn't have a brother."

I smiled, "Nope, just a sister."

"Lindsey said the mother of a friend of hers from school used one and now she and her new love are getting married." As I finished working, Catherine continued talking about the online dating service Lindsey wanted her to try when an idea hit me. While she continued talking, I left the lab with Catherine calling out behind me asking where I was going.

Leaving her in the lab we were in, I made a direct line to the evidence lockers.

"Nick, where'd you go?"

"That's it. That may be the link between all three cases. I saw in credit card statements that Mara Sawyer had a subscription to Love Dot Net, that internet dating site that is all over the billboards and busses in Vegas and it got me to thinking. Both of the other two women were single as well. Just going off a hunch here." I started dumping evidence upside down on the table. "Get the boxes down from Carol Kirby's case as well as Melissa Steel's case. I just had one of those Grissom moments."

"Lord. Now you're having Grissom moments?" Catherine started pawing through the paperwork in the box, "Got it." After she scanned through the receipts, she found what she was looking for, "Carol Kirby didn't have a subscription, but Melissa did.

"Nick?"

I turned to see Wendy jogging towards me, "Yeah?"

"I have a hit in CODIS for that DNA you gave me, but it's not in the system." She handed me the report, "That bus crash from a couple months ago. Your killer was on that bus. I took one of the DNA samples you collected from a bloody shard of glass and put it through the system. It kicked out a match to the same DNA from Melissa Steel's house fire not too long ago and to this one. Grissom said he found some errant blood drops in the bathroom, leading away from the victim."

I took the folder from her and held it in my hands, "Tell me you're kidding?"

Wendy shook her head, "CODIS doesn't lie, Nick. Gemini was in that bus crash when it happened. I kicked the glass from the crash over to trace to see if Hodges could determine where it came from, but whoever it was started bleeding at the scene. DNA was XY, so your killer is a man. Most of the injuries in that crash were minor, but there's a chance he could have been in the hospital a while."

I didn't even answer her as I took off in a sprint down the hall, moving Hodges out of my way as I ran. "Grissom!" I shoved the door open, not even bothering to see if he was busy. "I have something."

Grissom took the folder from me and read the report, "Gemini was in that bus crash?"

"According to this he was. Wendy said that the sample one of us collected from a broken piece of glass matched the DNA found at the arson case and in this new one."

"Damn it." I watched as Grissom threw a phone book across the room, hitting the window and cracking it. "We had him."

"We also didn't know who he was at the time, either."

He threw his glasses on the desk and rested his hands in his head, "Did EMS treat him? Is there a way we can track him down? See if they took him to the hospital?" Grissom handed the folder back to me, "Go down to central dispatch and pull the records from that date and go through them, looking for anyone who might match his description. I think Sara's free. Take her with you. Take whoever you want as long as this gets done and gets done tonight."

I found Sara in the DNA lab with Wendy and told her to come with me. Wendy said she was free and after snagging her and Henry, the four of us went to central dispatch at the PD and found what we needed and went to work. Most of what we found here were call logs and radio transcripts which weren't much help.

An hour later, we were still no closer to finding out who this guy was and the frustration alone was eating away at us all.

**A/N: So the bus crash and the Gemini killer are starting to make some sense here. Unless a plot bunny attacks me, the next chapter will probably be the wedding. This is the point in time where I beg of you, my faithful readers, to hit that submit review button and let me know what you think. I love seeing the little glowing email icon on my phone letting me know that y'all have given me some love.**


	33. In Your Eyes

**Chapter 33 – In Your Eyes**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. I'm just borrowing them for a while. I promise to return them when I'm done. Really. Well, except Nick. He's mine. I'd claim George Eads also, but he got married in July or so his publicist says. le Sigh.**

**Nick**

"This is it." I looked down at the piece of paper in my hands before looking at Anna, "Our marriage license."

"Yeah, just don't lose it."

"Asshat." Anna playfully smacked Bryan across his shoulder, "He won't lose it. That's why I trust him with it and not you. You'd turn it into a paper airplane and fly it down the aisle after the service for the minister to sign."

"My work wife knows me well."

Bryan had come along to be our witness. It was May 7th and Anna was at work but managed to break away for the half an hour it took to come to the Clark County Courthouse to pick up our license. In order to be able to leave for our top secret honeymoon, she had to work the two days before our wedding but would be off on the day before, otherwise we'd have to get married on the 10th and Anna would have to work for two days before we'd be able to leave on the 13th. In order for Bryan to be off for the wedding, he had to work the same shift on the ambulance as Anna.

After showing our IDs to the clerk and swearing that we were who we said we were and Bryan swearing we were telling the truth, I forked over the $60 and walked away with a legal binding document telling me that I could now legally marry Anna any time in the next three months. It was all hitting me and now I was getting nervous that our wedding was in three days.

I kissed Anna and told her I loved her and said I'd see her in a couple days at home when she got off work but Bryan had other plans, "No you won't. Aggie is coming home with me after work. It's bad luck to see the bride day before the wedding."

"Frog, we've broken every wedding tradition already. I doubt if another day matters." Anna was protesting, but Bryan was shaking his head, "Don't shake your head at me. He's my fiancé."

He was holding steadfast, "And you're my best friend and I'm not letting you break this one. You didn't let me see Cathy before we were married and I'm not letting you see CSI Man."

"Weren't you drunk in Anna's bathroom throwing up?" I remembered Anna telling me Bryan had quite the bachelor's party and wound up drunk as a skunk and swearing he was about to die.

"Touché, but that's beside the point. Aggs is coming home with me. Cathy will make sure she's at that chapel on time to get married. You and I will enjoy your bachelor's party and I'll get Cathy, your sisters and Jenna to take care of Aggie."

"Jenna?" Now it was my turn to be confused, "Who?"

"Bryan's sister Jennifer. As you can tell, he doesn't call anyone by their given names. Why can't I go home with Nick?" Anna folded her arms across her chest, "It's my life."

"It may be, but no." He stood between Anna and me as he turned his attention back to me, "So technically, you can come by and see Aggs today and tomorrow at work, but not when she gets off work on the 9th. At 12:01 AM on the 9th, I will tell everyone in the station you can't come by or call. When we get off work, she'll be with Cathy, Jenna and your sisters then and I won't let you through the front door, even if I have to equip Cody with his Super Soaker."

I had to smile, "Fine. God forbid I get attacked by a five year old with a squirt gun. I'm heading home to take a nap then to the airport to pick up my parents who are flying in with Jillian and Ryan. Chris and Allison plus Riley and Jason will be here on the 9th and my brother and Marissa and their baby will be here tomorrow night I think. They're driving up. I'll call you later. I'm sure Jillian will want to stop by the station to say hi to her newest sister."

"My parents will be here tomorrow also and Cathy's family is already here at my house. Just make sure it's before the cut off time if you come with her. If I have to stuff Aggie in a locker, I will. You're not seeing her. Your parents, sisters and brother can, but you can't and no photographs either."

The pain on Anna's face was evident as we were discussing family members being here. Anna knew all along that her parents wouldn't show up, but I knew deep down, she had some glimmer of hope that when the big day came, they'd be there in the audience, but this morning before work, something told me that the last glimmer she had went out. I asked Anna how she was doing with that, but all she did was shrug her shoulders. I didn't press her anymore. She was covering up her emotions with a sarcastic look as she rolled her eyes at Bryan, "Gee thanks. I'll be stuffed in a locker to keep from being able to see Nick."

Anna's radio interrupted our time together, "Medic 78!"

"le Damn." Anna reached for her radio, "Go for 78." She kissed me before she and Bryan ran back to the ambulance parked near the entrance to the courthouse.

I put the marriage license in the glove box of my Tahoe and made a mental note to put it in my truck when I got home since we'd be leaving that at the airport to catch a flight for Hawaii. I was assured by my sister after me thinking that it was too clichéd for a honeymoon that Anna would love it. She had never been and I had never been either so I booked the flight to leave the morning after our wedding. I decided to book a room at the Venetian for the night and leave for the airport the next day. We'd arrive later that day and check in to the hotel and spend a week and a half on the white sandy beaches of Honolulu. I smiled to myself as I backed out of the parking spot remembering Jillian's request to get Dog the Bounty Hunter's autograph should Anna and I run into him while we were down there.

Two days later, I got a text from Anna letting me know that Cathy was going to bring her truck home after she got off work later that afternoon. Shortly after that, I got a call from Bryan saying he was commandeering Anna's phone and she wasn't allowed to call anyone who might put her on the phone with me. I promised to send Jillian and Allison to Bryan's house so they could spend the night with them, leaving the men at our house. Anna just made me promise not to tear up the house and any damage done better be fixed by the time we got back from wherever we were going.

When Anna threatened to jump out of the truck if Bryan didn't let her talk to me, he finally consented and handed her the phone saying she had three minutes. She grabbed the phone from me and told me to talk fast as Bryan was timing us, "I love you. It's your official last day as Meri-Anna Gabrielle Gigandet."

"Tomorrow I'll be Anna Stokes. Finally I'll have a last name people can pronounce." Bryan said something in the background I didn't quite catch and Anna groaned, "Bryan said he's still gonna call me Aggie because he can't think of anything else to call me after I shot down the name Assie."

"Assie?"

"My name will be Anna Stokes. My original nickname was AG which morphed into Aggie. AS would eventually morph into Assie thanks to Bryan suggesting everyone calling me that." I heard Bryan laughing in the background, "I shot that one down and he was a little upset."

She started to debate with Bryan on giving him the phone and managed to tell me she loved me again before he got it back, "That's it. No more conversations with Aggie. It's the day before your wedding and the tradition is now in effect. You better be dying, dead, bleeding or on fire if you call again. If the situation is emergent enough, I'll consider telling her, otherwise you can tell her yourself tomorrow."

"And if Anna suddenly combusts into flames or her arm falls off?"

"I'm a fireman and my wife is a nurse. We can handle it. Goodbye CSI Man."

I tossed the phone in my cup holder when Bryan hung up on me. When my sisters went over to Cathy and Bryan's I'd get them to check on Anna to make sure she was amongst the living.

I told everyone at work I didn't want strippers at home for my party, but Warrick and Greg showed up and drug me into town while mom and dad offered to babysit so we could go out.

Bryan met us at the casino with my brother and Ryan and I was forced to sit through an evening planned out by my evil co-workers which eventually brought us back to the same karaoke bar that we were at on Anna's birthday. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that we managed to avoid strip clubs and women taking their clothes off for money, though liberal amounts of alcohol were consumed by all. Bryan stayed sober to drive one group of us home and Warrick called Tina to bring the rest of us back to Summerlin safely.

After surviving on less than two hours' worth of sleep, I was even more surprised to wake up and not have a pounding hangover headache. I drug myself to the bathroom and splashed cold water on my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror before turning and leaving the bathroom, crashing into my brother in the hallway, "Morning."

"Morning." Tyler handed me a coffee cup with fresh coffee in it, "Just in case you've got a hangover. My head was hurting this morning."

Taking a sip of coffee as we moved farther away from the bedroom where my parents were staying, I said I didn't have a headache strangely enough but when Ryan came up front looking like a corpse, I had to laugh, "Apparently not all of us can handle our alcohol."

Ryan poured himself a cup of coffee and took a long drink before he asked where the Tylenol was. I reached in the cabinet in the kitchen and tossed the bottle to him and watched as he popped a couple of pills, "Your sister will kill me."

Tyler shook his head, "No she won't. You'll be fine by three."

My parents woke up and came up front and my mother insisted on cooking us all breakfast. Bryan was staying in the fourth bedroom with the dogs and Danilla who had hid in the closet when my parents got here. I heard the bedroom door open and the sound of claws on the hardwood floor and braced myself for two dogs bounding up front, but Bryan had them both on leashes and started lead them outside to play before he joined us in the kitchen. Draco skidded to a stop as Bryan was leading them outside and started to growl at all the people in her house before I silenced her.

My mother's breakfast was wonderful. After we were all finished, Bryan excused himself to call Cathy to check on the girls, "I'm going outside. Someone sit on Nick. I don't want him talking to Aggie."

"Aggie?" Ryan was confused, "Who?"

"Anna. It's a station nickname for my future wife." I contemplated locking Bryan outside in the carport, but I changed my mind and went to take a shower.

Leaning my hands on the back of the shower wall, I let the hot water hit the top of my head and run down my body. My eyes were closed as I tried to keep the nausea in check.

"Nick!"

I shook my head and stepped back from the stream of water, "Yeah?"

Tyler stuck his head in the door, "Hurry up. Mom wants to get pictures of us getting ready before we leave. She's heading to the salon where your wife to be is to get photos in a few."

I shut the shower curtain and said I'd be done in a bit and stepped back into the hot water and sighed as I wondered what Anna was doing.

**Anna**

"Ouch."

"Sorry." The hairstylist was pinning my hair up behind my head and had stabbed me in the ear with a bobby pin. She and Cathy continued chatting as I stared at myself in the mirror. My veil was on top of the stylist's counter, but I had decided at the last minute to allow Bryan to put it on me since I knew my father wouldn't be here.

With my hair being naturally curly, all the stylist had to do was figure out how to pull all my hair up. I hadn't gotten a haircut in some time and my hair was about halfway down my back which gave the stylist plenty of material to work with. I zoned out and closed my eyes as she twisted another section of hair up and stabbed me once again in the scalp with a bobby pin. It was going to take me an hour just to pull the pins out of my hair after the wedding. Nick hadn't told me where we were going for the honeymoon, only that he was packing my bags for me. If we were flying, I'd get stopped by the TSA after the metal detectors went off. I started to smile at the thought of getting hung up by TSA on my honeymoon because of the bobby pins in my hair.

"Anna?"

I opened my eyes and looked for Cathy. She told me that Jillian had shown up with Allison and Marissa and they were standing behind the stylist's chair and were watching me get my hair styled. Mom came in shortly after with a camera and started taking shots, "I did the same thing to Nicholas a bit ago."

"How is he?"

"No!" Jillian stopped Mom before she could answer, "Tyler already stopped Nick from asking Mom about you and I'm not gonna let you ask about him. He still has a pulse and that's all we're telling you."

I sighed as I turned my attention back to my hands and started to fidget with my engagement ring as I felt the stylist still yanking on my hair. After about thirty minutes, she announced I was done and I looked up, "Perfect." I told her I didn't want anything filled with hairspray or some beehive hairdo, and she didn't disappoint me. She had twisted the sides of my hair back and put it in a loose bun at the nape of my neck. I had enough room for the veil and as Cathy added the tiara that she insisted I wear to my hair that went with the veil, I stood up and used the handheld mirror the stylist gave me to check out the back, "I love it."

Mom took her time taking snapshots of me with the embarrassed stylist plus everyone else. The stylist even took one with Mom in it plus one of just Cathy and me. I'd add that one to my collection in the bookcase at home.

Jillian, Marissa and Allison split the cost of my hairstyle as their wedding present to me before they started to take me to the chapel to get dressed. Mom rode to the chapel with Marissa, Jillian and Allison and I said I wanted to ride with Cathy. My wedding dress was in the back seat of Cathy's truck and I was too scared to turn around and look at it. I kept my mind focused on keeping my eyes closed as she followed the four of them to the chapel parking lot.

"He's not here yet."

I opened my eyes and blinked as they adjusted to the bright sunlight, "Who?"

"Your husband and mine. Bryan just texted me and said he and Nick were bringing his truck up here and I don't see it which means we've got to get you inside before they get here." Cathy opened her door and I slowly opened the passenger door and held on to it, but it was flung open when Jillian reached in and grabbed me by the wrist and pulled me out of Cathy's truck, warning me that Nick was on his way up here with the boys and for me to hurry up and get in.

I looked back in time to see Allison helping Cathy with my dress while Mom held onto the bridesmaids' dresses with both of her hands as she told me Catherine and Sara would be up here in a little bit to get dressed with the rest of us.

"Anna!" Marissa shoved me towards the door, "Get in!"

"What?"

Jillian grabbed my wrist again and pulled me up to the side door of the chapel, "Nick's here and you're not seeing him. They came around the front entrance and not this way so he didn't see you but I saw his truck so get in." She pulled me inside and had me stand against the wall behind her while Allison and Cathy brought in my wedding gown and Mom brought in the bridesmaids gowns. "We made it." She let out a sigh of relief as she led me towards the dressing room, "Time to put your dress on."

**Nick**

Bryan was laughing behind me but I didn't know why, "Your sisters. I hope they didn't dislocate Aggie's shoulder pulling her in the door like that."

"She's here?" I looked over to where Bryan was looking but all I saw was Cathy's truck and my sister's rental car, "Where?"

"Nope." Tyler stood between me and the line of sight I had, "They're already inside and thank God you're oblivious or you would have seen her."

I stared at the empty lot and felt a little better knowing that for once in her life, Anna was here and would probably be on time with my sisters, Cathy and my mother helping her.

Tyler held the door open for us and my dad stepped in first, followed by Bryan, Ryan and me. The minister was waiting for us at the front lobby of the chapel, "Nick Stokes?"

"Yeah."

"Justin Cain. I'll be officiating today." He held his hand out and I shook it, "Your fiancé's last name is pronounced how?"

"Gih-gawn-day." The chaplain looked at me blankly until I repeated it a few more times, slowly, hoping that when he said her name, he wouldn't butcher it.

"I think I have it, even if I do have to just write it out phonetically so I don't mess up. I'm about to go sign the marriage license and it'll be in the folder with the rest of the paperwork from today's service."

"Great." I swallowed hard, hoping I wasn't about to throw up. I watched as Justin left us alone in the foyer of the chapel we were using and headed towards the back of the building.

I turned around in time to see Bryan hugging someone I didn't know. When the man reached for me and hugged me as well, I guessed that he was Bryan's dad. "You must be Anna's special someone."

I wasn't sure if my voice would work right after almost being crushed to death in this man's grip and waited on Bryan to introduce us, "Dad, this is CSI Man, Aggie's fiancé. CSI Man, this is my dad, Jeff."

Holding out my hand, I expected another handshake, but what I got was another spine crushing hug, "Anna's very special to me but I know you know that already. Hurt her, and I'll kill you." Jeff let me go, "Got it?"

I looked over at Bryan who had the same look on his face that his dad did. Clearly they had been discussing this behind my back. I knew that Bryan considered Anna his sister and most of Anna's childhood stories had Bryan and his family interwoven into them, so I knew Jeff though of Anna as another daughter. "You have absolutely nothing to worry about. I love Anna with everything I have."

"Good enough for me."

"Mom!" Bryan held the door open for his mother, "Mom, this is CSI Man. Aggie's fiancé."

Rather than another hug, Bryan's mother was slightly more reserved than her son or husband, "Mary Brooks. It's so nice to finally meet you."

"Likewise. I was told Jenna is with Anna?" I was trying to be sly about getting information about Anna, "She's here?"

"CSI Man, no." Bryan interrupted, "You're not getting any information about Aggie. You've got less than two hours to go. You'll survive."

I was introduced to Jenna just long enough for her to come get Mary before they left us in the foyer. Tyler found the dressing room we were supposed to be using at the front of the chapel. I tried to sneak a glance towards the side of the chapel where Anna was, but the windows were frosted and I couldn't make anything out.

Greg, Grissom and Warrick had shown up by then and as the introductions were done once again, I sat down in the small bathroom and stared at my tuxedo. "Bryan!"

He knocked on the bathroom door, "You're not unloading in there, are you?"

I turned the knob and opened the door, "No. I was just making sure you have the rings. Your mother was bringing the pillow thing for the rings, right?"

Bryan produced two jewelry boxes and showed me both Anna's ring and mine, "Right here. Cody just came back here and I was going to tie the rings to the pillow and practice with him. He's been practicing at home with one of his story books and a few blocks. Whether he throws the pillow at the clergyman or takes a nap on it, I guess we'll see. Now get dressed before you make us all late for your own wedding."

I got dressed slowly, making sure not to get anything on the tuxedo I had bought. I stared at my reflection in the mirror before I opened the door and stepped out. My mother had found her way inside and was taking pictures of everyone. When I came out, she told me to stand by my brother and got the customary pre-wedding shots of us all in front of the stained glass window in the room. Finally, for her last shot, she got all of the men in line and took a few shots of that. Anna and I didn't hire a professional photographer, but rather we gave disposable cameras to a few people in the audience. I had given one to Ecklie and one Sofia Curtis and hoped that as many photographs that we took on a daily basis that the ones they took would come out well.

The wedding chapel provided a photographer for parts during the ceremony for the ring exchange, the vow exchange and the first kiss, but other shots such as the bridal party, the groomsmen and the photo of Anna and me after we were married were extra. I threw in the extra money for that and hoped the shots would come out. Part of the package I had bought with our honeymoon suite at the Venetian included a few wedding shots of just the two of us in the gardens at the hotel and Anna didn't know about that part yet.

I was staring absentmindedly into space when Bryan asked how I was doing, "I'm okay I think. Just trying not to throw up."

He smiled, "You'll be fine I promise. I was a nervous wreck before Cathy and I got married."

"You didn't throw up?"

"Nope." He shook his head, "Oh, and one more thing." Bryan turned to look at me before he left the side room of the chapel, "I know my dad already mentioned this, but I will too. Hurt Aggie and so help me God, I'll kill you myself and run your body through a wood chipper. Got it?"

"Bryan…"

"Nick, I mean it. Along with Cathy and my son, Anna is the most important person in my life. I've always been her protector of sorts since her own family really didn't give a damn about her as evident by their lack of support today. I know she loves you and you her or you wouldn't be here, but don't hurt her or I will hurt you back. Got it?"

I felt a slight pang of jealousy to hear Bryan use Anna's given name and how he described her, especially now. He rarely if ever used her given name and he only used mine when he was being serious and this was one of those times, "I have no intention on hurting her or ever leaving her." I held out my hand, "You have my word. As a fellow southerner, you know that a man's word and a handshake are golden."

He shook my hand and smiled, relaxing his attitude, "That's all I need. Now before we start, I have to go threaten Aggie and put her veil on. I told her I'd do the honors. Be right back." Bryan put his hand on my shoulder as he left the room to go check on Anna, leaving me alone, wishing I could hug her knowing she had to be upset over her parents not being here.

Pacing around in circles, I started to get nervous. This was it. I was about to get married. Exhaling a sharp breath as I sat down, my nerves calmed down. "Nick?"

I looked up to see my brother coming in as I sat down, "Yeah?"

Tyler let himself in and took a seat on the bench next to me, "Nervous?"

I shook my head. The feelings I had moments earlier were gone, "Oddly enough, I'm not. Should I be?"

"I wasn't when I married Marissa. When it's the right one, you'll know. If you're not nervous, then you're making the right decision. I haven't spent that much time around Anna, but I can see she loves you and you love her. That's all that matters."

**Anna**

"Arms out." I did as I was told as Cathy and Jillian were helping me step into my dress. Keeping my eyes shut, I didn't want to see what I looked like until I was done. I felt Jillian sliding the dress up my body and sucked in my breath as she tied the ties on the back of it. "Done."

As my eyes opened, Cathy was standing to my left and Jillian was on my right. My dress fit beautifully. "Wow." Turning slowly so I could see the back, Cathy picked up my train so I wouldn't step on it. Out of all the ones I tried on, it was the one I liked the best. The dress I had chosen was ivory colored and had a faux wrap that cinched at my waist. The bodice and skirt were accented with beaded ribbon and the gown had a break-front skirt with beautiful hand beaded accents sewn into the opened area that matched the accents on the ribbons. The one thing I did want was a long train and this one had a long train that started just below the lace up ribbon ties. I had opted for the lace ties rather than the traditional zipper closure in the back to make it more personalized for my tastes.

"My brother is a lucky man. If he hurts you, I'll jump up and down on him." Jillian made a move for my veil but I stopped her, "What? You want to do it yourself?"

"Bryan said he was going to do that." I took the veil from Jillian, "He gets to do the honors since…"

I didn't need to finish my statement before Cathy put her arms around my waist, "He'll be here in a minute to help, or I should say he'll be here in a minute to put the clips where I tell him." She produced two Swarovski crystal hair clips, "And I get these back. This is your borrowed part for your wedding. I wore these when I married Bryan. Cody took care of the new and Nick's family is handling the old part and Bryan has the blue."

Jillian handed me a pair of pearl drop earrings, "This is the old part. These were our grandmother's and I wore them when I got married as did Marissa and Allison. It's your turn now. Call it a Stokes family tradition."

"What about the new and blue part?"

"That'd be me."

I put on one of the earrings Jillian had given me as Bryan came in, "Do I even want to know?" I thought for a moment while I put on the other earring, "No stuffed animals, sashes or spray paint, right?"

"No. You get this." He held out his blue scene tag from the fire department. "This is the blue."

"Bryan." I took the tag from him, "Really? Your scene tag?"

"It's blue."

"I'm not colorblind."

He actually looked a little hurt about something when I took the tag from him, "Cathy wouldn't let me get what I wanted."

I must have looked horrified because she laughed, "He wanted me to get this stupid electric blue striped pair of socks with rainbow colored toes to wear with your shoes. I put my foot down because of the shoes you're wearing."

Bryan perked up, "So I bought them anyway and gave them to CSI Man's brother to give to him after the wedding for your honeymoon. He told me where you're going and I was told you'd need them."

"Thanks." I started to think of places I'd need electric blue socks, "I think."

"Relax." Cathy laughed, "He doesn't know where you're going either. Nick wouldn't tell anyone."

The shoes I had chosen to wear with my dress were open toed, silk satin ivory colored strappy sandals that had a bevy of rhinestone starbursts that cascaded into the crisscross straps. Since I was so short, I opted for a taller heel that was almost three inches. I just hoped I wouldn't trip and fall and kill myself walking down the aisle.

"So since my wife vetoed my idea, you get my LVFD scene tag for the blue and this…" He handed me a small black box, "This is the new. These are from Cody. He picked them out."

I clipped the scene tag to the inside of my dress and hoped it wouldn't leave a bump. Opening the box, I found a pair of diamond stud earrings. "Beautiful." I took one of the earrings out of the box and put it in my second earlobe hole, "Guess it's a good thing I've got more than one hole in my ears."

"This was why we got you the extra set of earrings since you have enough holes in each ear to wear them in. I told Cody about Nick's family tradition with the earrings, but he was adamant about earrings for the new part for your wedding. He wouldn't look at anything else."

"Thanks." After putting on the second earring, I realized it was almost time. The clock above the mirror read 2:45. In fifteen minutes, I'd be on my way to being married. "Veil time?"

"Yeah." Bryan took the clips from Cathy and started to pin them inside my veil, "Anna."

Him using my given name sounded weird, "You never use my given name. When we were younger I was Gabby and now I'm Aggie."

He shrugged as he continued to try to get the clips in my veil straight. Cathy started to try to help but Bryan turned around. In the light of the room we were in, I caught the reflection of a tear against my best friend's cheek. Knowing Bryan as well as I did, I knew better than to call attention to the situation.

With a heavy sigh, Bryan turned to face me with my veil in one hand and the borrowed hair clips in the other, "Before I do this, two things." He handed both clips to Cathy as Jillian stood behind me to help Bryan get my veil in place, "First, your father should be doing this. He's a massive asshat for not being here. Rest assured if I ever see him again, he'll hear about it. I know people say 'you can't choose your family' but what you can do is look deeper than the dinner table, beyond the DNA and redefine the word. No one knows that better than you do and you've done that with my family and with me." With Jillian helping settle the veil in between the mass of bobby pins holding up my hair, he took one of the clips from Cathy and slid it gently in my hair, "And again now with marrying Nick. Hit me if I hurt you. Adding in to my earlier statement..."

I interrupted, "So we're on idea number one, part B?"

Bryan smiled, "Smartass. Yes. We're at idea number one, part B." Cathy handed him the second clip and he pinned it in my hair. Jillian fluffed the toile behind me as he continued, "I'm honored that you chose me to do this before your wedding and if I wasn't standing with CSI Man, I'd walk you down the aisle."

"You can." I looked around Cathy to the mirror behind her so I could see how I looked in my veil. "This is my wedding. I want you on one side of me and your father on the other. He can run and tell Nicky what's going on." Bryan looked like he wanted to argue with me, but I didn't give him the chance, "This is something I want. You've been at my side every day of my life and with me through everything." I took Bryan's left hand in mine, "I want you next to me now."

Bryan was on the verge of tears but covered it up with a cough, "Fine." After Jillian volunteered to go tell her brother the news, he continued, "The second thing is this and this is important, so pay attention: You've found what so few people have. You've got your partner with Nick. He's your other half." Reaching for my other hand, he looked at me, "So help me God, if you ever do something stupid like leave him again, I will find you. I will hunt you down like a lion looking for dinner. I will haunt you in your dreams until you wake up in your bed with your sheets soaked through because you wet yourself from the nightmares I gave you from my promise of hunting you down." He gave both my hands a squeeze, "Got it?"

"You..." I thought back to last year when I bolted after I got shot, "You have nothing to worry about."

"Okay. Here's to the best friend I've ever had and will ever even hope to have. I have the two most important women in my life in this room. You're a girl for whom no man will ever be good enough. I hope you know that I love you and I wish for you nothing but a lifetime of happiness and if you do anything to screw it up, I'll kick your ass like it's never been kicked before." He kissed me gently on the forehead, being careful not to smudge my makeup, "Now. Let's go get you hitched so you can be like me only you'll have a work husband and a real husband."

I dropped Bryan's hands and playfully shoved him as Jillian and Mom came in with Catherine and Sara. Cathy found Cody and Lindsey on the opposite side of the chapel and herded them back with us to await on our start time.

We crammed into the tiny foyer of the Little Chapel of the Flowers room that we were using. The chapel itself was fairly decent sized and could handle close to 150 guests. Nick and I had no where near that amount. The white doors were closed and I stood with my eyes shut tightly as I tried to keep from crying. Looking outside towards the parking lot, I smiled when I saw four fire trucks and two ambulances. My co-workers who I considered my extended family, would be here for me.

Catherine was on one side of me giving Lindsey last minute pointers on the flowers. I knew Cathy was right beside me and Bryan was on the other side. Cody was next to Lindsey and was balancing the pillow with our rings on it using one hand. When he started to swing it around by the corner, Cathy stopped him. I could just see the string on the rings coming loose and our rings flying into oblivion.

Bryan said that his dad was up front with Nick's family and was making his way to the back of the chapel where we were. I heard the side door opening and looked over and saw Jeff coming towards me. After he kissed his daughter in law and then me, he took his place on my left as Bryan took his place on my right. Cathy, Catherine, Allison, Sara and Jillian were in front of me and as the opening notes of Caledonia played, I tensed up. "Nervous yet?"

I lied, "I run into burning buildings for a living. I don't get nervous." I felt my heart rate increase and my breathing begin to become a little more labored. I was nervous, but I knew I had no reason to be. I loved Nicky and he loved me. I kept telling myself over and over again I was doing the right thing and we would be fine.

"So that means?" At this point, I wasn't sure if my voice would work right and Bryan noticed. "You look like you're about to puke." Shaking my head again, Bryan laughed, "You'll be fine. If you faint, I'll catch you."

"And if I throw up?"

"AMYOYO, Aggs."

"AMYOYO?" Cathy turned around and looked confused, "Do I want to know?"

"Alright, mothereffer, you're on your own. It's a term we use a lot at work for combative patients."

Ignoring Bryan's comment, Cathy, as my matron of honor, stood in front of me. Sara went out the door first, followed by Catherine, Allison and Jillian. When it was Cathy's turn to leave, she told me she loved me and took a deep breath before she started walking towards the front of the chapel. I watched from my vantage point as she confidently took her steps in time with the music. I was hidden behind one of the doors so Nick couldn't see me in my gown. We had broken every wedding tradition in the books, but the one tradition I refused to break was him seeing me in my dress before I walked down the aisle.

"Anna?" Jeff nudged me in the side to let me know that Cathy had taken her place on the altar. "It's almost time for you to go after Cody and Lindsey get up there."

When they were done, Bryan pulled on me. Forgetting momentarily how to walk, my shoes felt like they each weighed a thousand pounds. Bryan whispered in my ear that I was supposed to pick one up, bend my knee and put it back down, "Then you do it with the other foot." His description caused me to let a small laugh escape and after that, I felt better. I knew in my heart I was doing the right thing.

**Nick**

I was staring in the mirror in the back of the chapel, trying to keep my lunch down. My mom had decided that a heavy meal of bacon and eggs just before my wedding was a good idea but I didn't agree but with me being so nervous, I didn't have the energy to say no. Before I knew it, I had downed the entire plate and I knew I'd pay for it later on. "I will not throw up. I will not throw up."

The voices around me sounded like I was listening through a long tunnel. Grissom and Warrick were over to one side, talking with my brother and Greg. My dad was talking with Jeff and Jillian who had come in with a message from Anna earlier but I wasn't allowed to know what it was. After panic mode set in, I was assured that it wasn't that she was bolting, only that she wanted Bryan with her as she walked down the aisle. Breathing a sigh of relief, I said that was fine and Jillian left to go relay the message back to Bryan and my bride to be.

The chaplain came in and said that we'd be starting in just under a few minutes. As Justin shut the door, I caught sight of the chapel seating. There weren't but about seventy people invited to the wedding and most had shown up. Most of the people from the lab were on my side of the chapel and I was pleased to see that a lot of Anna's co-workers had taken time out of their day to come watch her, a few of them even on duty at the time. She considered them her family just like I considered the people I worked with mine.

Anna did send an invitation to her parents, but they didn't bother to come. We did get a fairly generous pre-paid Visa card from them with the explicit instructions to spend it on ourselves for our honeymoon and not the house or anything else. Anna had suggested we take it along with us on our honeymoon, and she was still clueless about where we were going. Since she spent the night at Bryan and Cathy's last night, I took it upon myself to pack a suitcase for her since I didn't want her to know where I was taking her and telling her to pack bikinis and sunscreen would give it away. I used the Visa card to upgrade our hotel room

"It's time."

Never in my life had two words hit me so hard.

**A/N: As always, I appreciate any and all reviews even if it's one or two words. I work so hard on my stories and I love seeing what my readers think.**

**I promise not to take 2 months to update this story again. I've been dealing with writers block as well as a boatload of personal crap and haven't had the energy to write. One more chapter – at most one and a half more chapters – of wedding talk, then back to reality with Nick and the CSIs.**


	34. Higher Window

**Chapter 34 – Higher Window**

**A/N: I know I said I wouldn't take long to update, but it's difficult to write when the characters aren't talking.**

**Back to Nick's POV unless otherwise noted**

My brother went out first, followed by Grissom, Greg and Warrick. Since Anna had altered the wedding plans, Bryan would join me after he got done walking her down the aisle with his father. I still wished that Anna's parents could put the past behind them and be here for their daughter, but it was a futile wish. Stubbornly, they were allowing her to go through one of the biggest days of her life without them, but given what she's told me of her childhood, most of her life events from birthdays to graduations, were done in the presence of Bryan and his family and today would be no different.

I stood in the doorway of the foyer and looked out at the audience and saw most of the people we had invited, apart from Anna's family. Behind the row with my family in it, Ecklie was seated in the row with his wife and on the other side of them were Doc Robbins and his wife and Super Dave and his fiancé. and Jim Brass was sitting with our newest detective, Sofia Curtis. I didn't know Sofia that well as we hadn't worked together that long, but I liked her and asked Anna if it'd be okay to invite her.

On the other side of the aisle were most of Anna's co-workers from the fire department with their families as well as some of Bryan and Cathy's family members I hadn't met yet. All in all, we had probably sixty-five people in attendance which was most of the ones we invited.

Glancing at Anna's side of the chapel, I just wished her parents would have obliged her and came, but they didn't and there was nothing I could do about it now. I know she was hoping that they'd come but I think she made peace a long time ago with the fact that they simply didn't care. It still hurt her when she'd allow herself to get her hopes up, even slightly, only to be disappointed again. Bryan's whole family was here and I hoped that meant more for Anna. I did feel better when I saw the fire department members, dressed in their uniforms, who had taken a break from the day to come watch their colleague get married. No doubt, the parking lot had enough fire trucks and ambulances in it to make it look to passers-by that the building not only was on fire, but mass casualties were inside.

I took my place at the altar and watched as Anna's bridal party made their way up the aisle and one by one, took their place on the opposite side of me. Cathy gave a sweet smile when she took her place at the top of the stairs. When Cody got to the stairs, he started up them but turned around and came up to me and held up his hand. I gave him a high five before he took his place next to Cathy. I heard a few laughs coming from the audience and knew I had Bryan to thank for that move.

Caledonia started again and the back door to the chapel opened and the first sight of Anna in her bridal dress made me catch my breath as everyone in the audience stood up when she stepped through the doors. She was stunning and for a moment, I had to remind myself that was Anna and not some stranger walking towards me. Her strapless dress was form fitting until it hit her waist and fanned out to include a full skirt with a long train, which was something she said she wanted. With her hair twisted up, the veil was resting in the middle of a tiara which was held in place by the two clips Bryan said Cathy was going to let Anna borrow. On her left side was Bryan's dad and on her right was Bryan.

Stepping in time with the music, the three of them made their way up towards the front of the altar while the minister came out from the same room I was in earlier. When Anna got to the front of the aisle, she stopped and Cody gave her a high five also. I had to laugh and I could tell by the slight shake of her shoulders, Anna got a laugh out of the gesture too as she shook her head at Bryan as the minister approached us.

As the crowd sat down, the minister took his place and looked at me before he turned his attention back to the crowd, "We are gathered here today on this day to witness the marriage ceremony of Nicholas Parker Stokes and Meri-Anna Gabrielle Gigandet." I breathed a sigh of relief when Justin didn't massacre Anna's last name and hoped he remembered not to call her Meri-Anna after this.

"Nick and Anna have already begun their journey together. They have enjoyed the exhilaration of finding one another and they have struggled through many difficulties together. This ceremony connotes the end of that beginning and marks a new beginning; the beginning of a committed lifetime journey. Should there be anyone who has cause why this couple should not be united in marriage, they must speak now or forever hold their peace." When no one spoke up, he looked down at Anna, "Who gives this woman in marriage?"

Bryan's father stepped forward, "My son and I do." He lifted Anna's veil and gently kissed her on the cheek before he took a step back.

Bryan repeated the same process and held on to one of Anna's hands, "Love you, Aggs."

"Me too." She hugged him before he handed her hand to me. I glanced over my shoulder to watch Bryan take a step back before he went behind us to take his place with the rest of the groomsmen.

"Very well." Justin motioned for Anna and me to take a step up and we did before he looked at us and continued, "Nick and Anna, life is given to each of us as individuals and yet we must learn to live together. Love is given to us by our family or by our friends. We learn to love by being loved. Learning to love and living together is one of the greatest challenges of life and is the shared goal of a married life." Turning his attention towards the crowd, he shifted his weight to his other foot and continued again, "Nick and Anna have come here to make public their love for each other; to give notice of their truth; to declare their choice to live and partner and grow together out loud and in your presence, out of their desire that we all will come to feel a very real and intimate part of their decision, and thus make it even more powerful..."

I stole a glance at Anna as the minister was finishing up his speech, "You look beautiful."

She smiled, "I love you."

"Love you, too."

Turning our attention back to the minister, he finished up, "Today you marry an unknown. Only the long unraveling of time will fully reveal each other's depths and intricacies. You know enough about your beloved to know that you love each other and that, as time goes on, you will come to enjoy and love each other even more. Together you are embarking on a journey of discovery and exploration, a path down which you will experience your lives more fully."

Justin led us in prayer to bless our new lives together before he moved on to the vow ceremony. I hadn't really written anything down and I knew Anna didn't either, but we both wanted to speak from the heart, rather than recite the same vows countless others had recited before us. "And now, Nick and Anna will recite their love for each other with vows they have written themselves. Nick."

As Justin stepped back, I took Anna's hands in mine, "Anna, you are everything I need and at this moment, I know all of my prayers have been answered and that all of my dreams have come true. I used to be afraid of falling in love and of giving my heart away. When I met you, I realized how much we could share together. You have renewed my life and today, I join my life with yours. I praise God for you, for all of your love and constant friendship. I promise to be here forever and always and from this day forward, you shall not walk alone. My heart will be your shelter and my arms will be your home. As I have given you my hand to hold, I give you my life to keep."

Anna was having as hard of a time as I was fighting back the tears, "First of all, I love you. I do. You have shown me what love feels like and for that I thank you and you've helped me through a lot. I don't know where I'd be if it wasn't for you. I was thinking of what to say while I was getting ready and the only thing I could think of was a poem I had to memorize in college." She blinked a few times to keep from crying, "It went something like 'I carry your heart in my heart and I am never without it. Anywhere I go, you go and this is the wonder that keeps the stars apart.'" I felt Anna tighten her hold on my hands, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that we all have that person. The person you loved before anyone else. The person you loved before you knew enough to be scared of what you were feeling. The smartest thing I ever did was take a chance with you. I enter into this marriage with you, knowing that the true magic of love is not to avoid changes, but to navigate them successfully. I will follow you anywhere and everywhere you go, hand in hand and heart in heart."

I heard my sisters sniffle and watched as Allison dabbed her eyes. I turned my attention back to Anna as Justin prepared to do the ring exchange and saw her eyes were red, but she wasn't crying.

"And what symbol do you have to show your love?" Justin looked at Cody but he had his head down and looked like he wanted to use our ring pillow as a pillow. Bryan nudged him and pointed towards the minister and when he did, Cody handed the pillow to Justin and got another high five. Anna hid a smile and gave Cody pat on the shoulder before he took his place between Bryan and my brother. Our wedding was going down in the books as an event to remember thanks to our five year old ring bearer.

Unbeknownst to Anna, on the inside of our rings, I had  _'Stronger together than ever apart'_  engraved on them. I had that added to the inside of the band of Anna's ring and on the one she picked out for me.

"Nick, place the ring on Anna's left hand and repeat after me, 'With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart and hand."

I took Anna's hand in mine and as I looked into her eyes, as I repeated the words as I slipped the ring on her finger, "With this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hand."

"Anna."

Justin held out his Bible and she took the ring off of it and put it on my finger after she looked up at me after she read the engraving on the inside. "Nick, with this ring, I thee wed, and with it, I bestow upon thee all the treasures of my mind, heart, and hand."

Still holding hands, the minister closed his Bible and took a step towards us, "By the power vested in me by the state of Nevada and Clark County, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Nick, you may kiss your bride."

Dropping Anna's left hand, I gently lifted her veil and with my right hand on her waist, I gently touched her cheek with my left hand and kissed her as everyone in the audience started to applaud.

"Ladies and gentlemen in the audience, may I present Mr. and Mrs. Nicholas Parker Stokes."

I finally broke the kiss when I heard my brother clear his throat behind me. Anna looked around my shoulder and I could tell she wanted to say something but just smiled and took my hand as I led my new bride down the aisle and towards the reception hall in the next building.

I shoved the door open and held it out for Anna, who refused to let go of my hand. I had to spin around to catch the train of her wedding dress to prevent it from being caught in the door. When I pulled the last part of it out, Anna grabbed me and kissed me hard as the rest of the wedding party started to come out, "Oh give it a rest you two." Jillian broke Anna and me apart when she walked between us, holding Ryan's hand, "You'd think you were newlyweds or something." Smiling as she opened the door to the reception hall, she held it open for us and kissed both Anna and me on the cheek as we walked in.

Part of the wedding package was also the usage of the reception hall for a couple of hours. True to my word, I bought several boxes of Twinkies and the staff at Chapel of the Flowers set them out, no doubt wondering what kind of bride wanted Twinkies for a wedding cake. I had to smile as I led Anna inside the reception hall and saw our Twinkies arranged in a cake formation on a silver platter at the end of the table next to two champagne flutes with lacy ribbon tied to the stems. Anna didn't drink much and had requested a bottle of apple juice in place of champagne and I saw a small bottle with our names on it next to the Twinkies.

"Who is behind the idea for the Twinkies?" Allison picked up two Twinkies and handed one to each of her kids and watched as they ran off with Cody and Lindsey towards the side of the room where some chairs had been set up. "No cake?"

"That'd be me." Anna spoke up as Cathy and my mother were helping her out of her veil, "I told Nicky I didn't want a wedding cake. I wanted Twinkies."

"And I went along with it. This was Anna's wedding to plan from the start."

Jillian came over and announced to us that she had picked out our first song, "The guy over there is about to put it on." She shoved me towards the middle of the room as Anna followed me out there.

"Put what on?" I reached for Anna's hand as Jillian shoved us towards the center of the room.

"I want a Twinkie first." Anna started to protest, but Jillian shook her head and said she'd save her one after we were done.

Right before we got to the middle of the room, the opening notes of 'Because You Loved Me' by Celine Dion started as I put my arm around Anna's middle. "She would have to pick a song she liked."

"I don't mind it." Anna took a step in closer towards me and put her arms across my shoulder as I dropped my other hand to her waist, "As long as it wasn't the Hokey Pokey or that theme from Lamb Chop or something stupid, I don't care."

"You do know she's getting back at you for the Great Twinkie Debacle."

"Meh. It's our wedding and I wanted Twinkies."

As the music played on, I caught sight of our guests as we danced. Sara was talking to Grissom in the corner of the room, oblivious to everyone around them. They could deny it all they wanted, but everyone knew something was between them. It was just a matter of time before they figured out what it was. Weddings always seemed to put people in a romantic mood, so who knows what was to happen after we left.

Warrick had brought someone to the wedding that he met a few weeks ago. They seemed to be hitting it off pretty well. Catherine brought Lou and Greg was by himself, talking to Wendy, Mandy and Hodges. Ecklie was with his wife, talking to Doc Robbins and his wife and Super Dave and his fiancé were sitting down at the same table as Sofia and Jim, watching us. It meant a lot to me to see our friends here. Most of Anna's co-workers from the other stations had stayed long enough to greet us when we came in and had left before they got another fire call but since the station Anna worked at was just around the corner, her co-workers from there were still here.

"Who are you looking at?" Anna had slowed down dancing, but was still letting me lead, "You look like you're miles away and looking for the nearest exit."

I smiled, "I don't want to bolt if that's what you're asking. I was just watching everyone here, grateful that they came. I saw a lot of your friends from work."

"Yeah. I saw the fire trucks in the parking lot." She started to laugh, "I bet everyone who drove by thought the building was on fire. I can only imagine what the other people getting married here thought."

The song ended and Bryan broke in for a dance with Anna while Cathy took my hand. A few other people joined us on the dance floor until it was time for the obligatory feeding of the wedding cake, or in our case, the Twinkies. Anna told me if I hit her in the face with the Twinkie, she wouldn't sign the form Justin had. I fed her the part of the Twinkie gently and resisted the urge from my co-workers to smash it in her face. Anna respected me enough not to be cruel and didn't hit me in the face with a Twinkie either, much to everyone's dismay.

After the Twinkie feeding came the apple juice drinking. I looped my arm through Anna's and did as best as I could not to spill anything on her dress and was amazed when I succeeded. We broke apart again to mingle before the crowd dispersed as we were nearing the end of our reception time. We had to be out by 7:00 and it was after six now.

Anna was talking to a couple of her co-workers who had left briefly to answer a call, but had come back long enough to snag a Twinkie and a glass of apple juice. Cathy pulled Anna away from her co-workers and I watched as she handed Anna her phone. Anna read something before an annoyed look flashed over her face as she tossed the phone on the table and walked off, headed back towards the group of people she was talking to earlier. Cathy got up to follow her as I made my way to the table to see what Anna was so upset about.

I picked up her iPhone and saw she had an email still open on the screen. It was in French and I could understand parts of it, but not all of it. With Anna towards the front of the room with my sisters and Cathy, I didn't want to bug her so I found Bryan and handed him the phone, "Can you translate? Cathy handed Anna her phone and she looked at it and threw it on the table. With it being in French, I'm fairly certain I know who it's from."

Bryan took Anna's phone from me and read through the message, "It says, 'Meri-Anna, we are truly sorry that we could not make it to your wedding but your father could not get the time off. We watched on the website Samantha gave us and we all agreed that you looked beautiful and I hope you know how much we love you and wished we could have been there. Please convey the same to your new husband. Best wishes, your mother.' Wow." He handed the phone back to me and I stuck it in my pocket, "I can't believe she'd send that and didn't even sign it 'Love, Mom.'"

Glancing over at Anna, she was laughing at something someone had said. The look of annoyance on her face from earlier was gone. Cathy was probably the only one to see it other than me. "Thanks, man." I kept my eye on Anna as Bryan went back to a different group of firefighters that were near the original group Anna was with.

Before we knew it, we had run out of time. Putting on a show, I took off Anna's garter belt and launched it over my shoulder. Hodges caught it and immediately flashed a crimson red before he stuffed it in his pocket and stood behind Wendy.

Seeing what I had done, Anna picked up her bouquet of flowers and with my help and subtle hints on where to aim, she tossed her bouquet straight into Wendy's arms. The look of embarrassment on her face was every bit as hilarious as the look on Hodges's face, especially knowing Anna threw the bouquet at her on purpose.

With everyone lined up on either side of us, we spent the next few minutes thanking everyone for coming out to celebrate with us. Finally reaching the outside of the building, we were bombarded with loads of bird seed as we made it to my truck, which someone had painted with shaving cream and windshield chalk. Tied to the tailgate, the antenna and the wheels were strands of yellow crime scene tape. I had to smile, knowing that considering what Anna and I both did for a living, crime scene tape was more fitting than streamers or strings with old shoes tied to it. I helped Anna in the truck, being careful with the train of her dress and shut the door as Greg and Warrick threw what seemed like half a bag of bird seed at me. I had seed down my shirt, in my hair and I was sure in other places.

I got in before they could reload and rolled the window down to wave as we drove off towards the Venetian. I had already arranged for everything and as the valet helped Anna out, I waited on her and escorted her inside to check in.

The attendant told us congratulations and handed me the envelope with the room keycard in it and said she had a surprise delivered to our room, which got Anna interested but that was short lived when I told her it had nothing to do with where we were going.

"So where are we going?"

I leaned down and kissed Anna, "No. You'll find out tomorrow."

"I'll just check my suitcase then."

"No you won't. It will be dropped off tonight at an unspecified location." The elevator stopped and the doors opened and I led Anna towards our hotel suite, "You'll find out tomorrow. Everything you'll need tonight and tomorrow is in this bag. You'll find out where we're going tomorrow." I got the card key out of the folder I was given and stuck it in the lock, kissing Anna again, "You've survived the wedding. Now let me have my fun." I took her hand after dropping our bags on the bed, "We have an appointment downstairs."

For the next hour, the photographer led us around the grounds of the hotel, snapping photo after photo. We got well wishes and congratulations from complete strangers staying at the hotel who stopped to watch us as the photographer did his thing. When we were finally finished, he said he'd have the prints to us by the time we got back from our honeymoon. Hearing that, Anna perked up and asked him if he knew where she was going. I had to hide a smile at the fact Anna was doing everything in her power to find out where I was taking her. I made a mental note to thank Jillian for not blabbering my secret to her.

Two weeks later, I was lying in bed, about to go to sleep as I watched Anna getting ready to head in to work. It was her first shift after we got married. Reacting quickly to avoid being hit in the head by a flying duty belt, I caught it and tossed it on her end of the bed. Deep inside our closet, I could tell Anna was looking for something, but with her inside the walk in closet, I didn't know what it was.

"You okay in there?"

"Yeah." The closet went dark as Anna stepped out with a crumpled uniform shirt in her hands, "Apparently before we left, I forgot to do laundry and now I can't find a clean uniform shirt anywhere. This one smelled the least offensive. I started a load of clothes before I got in the shower. Before you go to work, can you stop by the station and bring me a couple shirts? They're in the washer right now."

"Yeah." I yawned. "Is it almost done? I don't think I can stay up much longer."

Anna tossed her boots on the floor next to her side of the bed as she disappeared in the bathroom a moment, coming out a few seconds later with a black hair scrunchie. Twisting up her hair, she sat down on the edge of the bed and started to tie her shoes, "Should be. Twenty minutes, max."

"Too bad you don't have twenty minutes." I sat up and pulled Anna in closer to me, causing her boot to slide off her foot and fall to the floor, "I'd stay awake."

She laughed, "And you could explain why I was late for my first shift back."

"Oh, I think they'd know."

Anna blushed, "Nicky…" She shook her head and put her left boot back on and tied the laces, "Hand me my uniform shirt. It doesn't smell that bad, does it?"

"Nope." I smelled it before I handed it over, "Smells like that lotion you wear." As I got ready to hand it to her, the white letters spelling out her name caught my eye, "So, when will your new shirts be in?"

"Huh?"

I watched as Anna pulled the shirt over her head and after checking to make sure the shirt didn't knock the scrunchie out of her hair, she started to tuck it into her pants, "Your new work shirts with your new name on it. You were still planning on using my name, right?"

"Yeah. I don't get a uniform allowance until December, Nicky."

"So?"

Anna sighed, "Nick, those shirts are almost thirty dollars a piece and they provide six short sleeved and six long sleeved shirts. You do the math. My dress uniform I'll have to get that brass nameplate thing redone. I'll get new uniform shirts in December. Everyone knows I'm already married at work. Plus there's this." She held up her hand to show me she was wearing her wedding ring, "I think that's pretty much a given."

I noticed that Anna had on her wedding ring, but her engagement ring was off. "Where's the engagement ring? You not gonna wear that anymore?"

"Oh, I will, but I can't at work. The stone that sticks up would rip the gloves as I put them on. When I'm not at work, I'll wear both. I just can't wear the engagement ring when I work. Besides…" Putting her hand on my cheek and kissing me softly, "You have nothing to worry about. Everyone else at the station is married. I'm the lone holdout or I was at least."

I fell back onto the pillow and watched as Anna went to the bathroom to throw her shampoo and conditioner into her duty bag, "I trust you. I didn't mean that I didn't. I just want your last name to be the same as mine."

"It already is." Anna peeked out the door, "Nicky, we've been back from Hawaii a day and a half. I haven't gotten my driver's license changed yet or my new social security card. I haven't even applied for that or a change of name on our bank account or anything else. My uniform shirts are small in comparison to all that. I need our marriage license to do all of that first and it hasn't come in the mail yet."

"I'm making a big deal out of this, aren't I?"

Smiling, Anna agreed, "Yep." Finishing her packing, she let her bag drop to the floor before she climbed on top of me in bed, "I love you and I'll talk to Zach when I get to work about getting new uniform shirts ordered early since I got married and since it's so important to you."

"You're not mad?"

"Over uniform shirts? Please. Our first fight as a married couple is gonna be over something a lot more serious than that. It's important to you, so I'll see what I can do. That's what marriage is all about. Compromise." Leaning down to kiss me, she started to slide off of my stomach, but I stopped her and held on to her, trying to entice her to call in sick. It wasn't working, "Nicky, I'm about to be late. I'm gonna have to break several traffic laws just to get to work on time."

Reluctantly, I let Anna go and got out of bed to walk with her to the door, "Please don't forget to throw my shirts in the dryer. That will be our first fight as a married couple if I don't get a clean uniform shirt before you head into work." Reaching up on her tip toes, she kissed me before grabbing her keys, "Love you."

"Love you too." I stood in the doorway and watched as Anna got in her truck and left, heading in to work.

Since I was already up, I walked to the barn to check on the horses. Two of them were in the center hallway, dozing and the others I didn't see. Checking to make sure they had plenty of hay available and their trough was full of water, I petted Amy before reaching for Gypsy and leaving the barn. Our barn kid would be back tonight, but not having laid eyes on them since we got back, I wanted to be sure before I fell asleep.

I stripped out of my shirt as I came inside and tossed it on the floor. Cassie and Draco were still with Bryan. Cathy said she'd bring them by on her way to work later on tonight. With the two dogs gone, the house was eerily quiet. Danilla was hiding in the closet, mad at Anna for being gone so long. I tried to entice her to get on the bed with me so I'd have some company, but after her hissing at me, I gave up and shut the light off, leaving the door cracked slightly. Right before I turned the light off, I caught sight of Anna's wedding dress in the corner of the closet and smiled. I was really married.

Looking down at my left hand, the wedding ring Anna placed there a little over two weeks ago was shining back up at me. I shut the light in the closet off and went up front to throw Anna's shirts in the dryer. Setting the timer on the dryer, I knew I wouldn't be able to stay up that long and hoped she wouldn't be that mad if they were a little wrinkly. I threw another load of clothes into the washer and started that, but yawning as I dropped in the detergent, I shut the lid and came back to the bedroom and it wasn't long before I was asleep.

Waking up about ten hours later, it was nearing four in the afternoon. Checking my phone, I had two texts from Anna and one from Cathy. She wanted to know if it was okay to drop the dogs off at six. Checking the time on my phone, I responded back with that was fine and if I wasn't home to just use her key and let them in. Anna reminded me once again to bring her shirts by and that if they weren't there, she wanted me to use my key to her truck and leave them there, telling me they had been pretty busy today.

Cathy stopped by with the dogs and while Draco went to find Anna, Cassie rolled around on the floor in front of me, begging me for attention. Playing with her some, I finally conceded and took another short nap and when I woke up again, I was running later than I wanted. I barely had time to get dressed and head out the door so I wasn't late for work. I'd drop Anna's shirts by the station on my way out to the call out I got. I didn't have time before work.

"Nick." Grissom looked up from his desk, "I already gave your assignment to Sara. Welcome back by the way."

Damn. I was later than I thought. Grissom was one of those people who didn't have to say anything to show he wasn't happy with the situation and sometimes, that was worse than an ass chewing. "Thanks. What'd Sara and I get?"

"Robbery at a gas station on the strip. Shouldn't take that long. Oh and Nick?"

"Yeah?"

He put his pen down on the desk and stood up, "Shift starts at eleven." I was about to say something in my defense, but Grissom started to smile, "I'll excuse it this time since you're a newlywed and all. Welcome back, Nicky."

**A/N: Remember, the _Review_  button is your friend.**


	35. My Immortal

**Chapter 35 – My Immortal**

**Four months later**

"Nick?"

"Yeah?"

Catherine was standing in the doorway of the lab, "Grissom needs you at Desert Palms ASAP. Sara is already there."

"For what?" I was in the middle of a carjacking case I was assigned earlier tonight and now I was pissed I was being dumped more work when Greg and Warrick were goofing off in the break room after closing up an easy slam dunk case, "I've already got a case and last I checked, Greg and Warrick are done. Why can't he call them?"

"He told me to tell you it's another Gemini, but this one lived. Greg and Warrick will take over your carjacking."

I stood up so fast that the chair I was in flew back. Throwing my lab coat on the table, I ran downstairs to the locker room and grabbed my field kit and my keys and floored it to Desert Palms.

Parking in a reserved physician spot, I flew through the front doors of the ED, not even paying attention to anyone. My mind was focused on finding the Gemini killer and this victim could be the link we needed.

"Hi Nick. Bye Nick." I turned around long enough to see Anna standing in the ambulance doorway of the hospital, "In a hurry I take it?"

"Yeah. Got a case here. Who was the last person you brought in?"

"Twenty something college kid. Strung out on disco biscuits from a party."

At the rate I was going now, I'd never grasp Anna's paramedic lingo she used on the job, "Disco biscuits?"

"Ecstasy." Bryan threw the bag he was holding on top of the gurney Anna was pushing, "It's the new trend among college kids. They were dropping X. I miss the days when parties were bowling and birthday cakes. Then it was kegs and eggs when we were in college. Party til dawn. Now it's drugged until you're throwing up on someone and about to die. Another unit got another party victim who got a bad batch of heroin and it knocked him on his ass. Hate it when that happens."

I looked at Anna and Bryan, "So you didn't bring in a woman who was attacked?"

Anna started to shove the gurney towards the bay doors where they were parked as Bryan answered a call on their radios, "Nope. Not unless the guy we brought in was a cross dresser or something. We didn't look that hard. Scoop and run because he was pretty bad. Had to trach him in the field and the other guy 74 brought in was intubated without muscle blocks, which almost never happens."

"Speaking of running…" Bryan was growing impatient, "Someone's lasagna should be done by now and I'll be damned if the engine company gets it before us."

"I need to run also. Got a case in the ED." I told Anna I'd call her later as she and Bryan shoved the gurney out towards the truck.

Grissom met me in the hallway and told me Sara was still in with the victim. The ED docs had just done a rape exam and she was collecting evidence, but the woman was in a state of shock and wasn't saying anything to us. "When Sara comes out, think you can give it a try? You always know how to talk to victims like her."

"I can try." I set my field kit down on the nurses' station desk, "What do we know so far?"

Handing me a file folder, Grissom started to give me a run down on what he knew, "Victim is Diane Coyle. PD found her outside The Pancake Palace on Lexington. She was crying uncontrollably and had her feet cut. They called for LVFD who brought her here. The paramedics had the knowledge to at least wrap her feet in surgical shoe covers to preserve evidence and that still needs to be collected. Docs had to sedate her to do the rape exam. Sara is just finishing up with that now."

"She confirm it was a Gemini?"

Grissom handed me a plastic evidence bag, "I'd say this counts as yes." I took the bag from him and inside was the plain, white business card with the Gemini symbol on one side, but on the other was the number 314, "We think it may be a room number? There are several hotels near The Pancake Palace. PD is checking it out."

Finally we had some solid evidence as to who this person was, "Was she raped?"

"Docs don't think so, but they wanted to be sure. She's cut up pretty badly and has a broken hand."

Sara came out and told us she was heading back to the lab with what she had gotten so far, "I hope you can get through to her, Nick. She's the only link we have to this killer. Right now, she's still pretty shaken up but she's conscious. I tried talking to her but she just kept muttering something I couldn't understand. When I moved closer to her, she became upset and started to cry. Sara tried and got the same response. If she won't talk to you, we'll just hold her here and I'll send Catherine by tomorrow or Thursday."

I waited until the doctor and the two nurses came out before I went in. "Ms. Coyle?" I opened the door slowly and saw her in a corner of the room with the gurney between the door and her. She had made a fortress of sort, keeping people away from her. Recognizing the defensive behavior, I stepped slowly into the room and held out my ID, "I'm Nick Stokes with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."

The silence that followed fed each of us thoughts that we didn't necessarily want to acknowledge. I couldn't imagine what this woman had been through and I'm sure as the sedatives wore off, she was reliving each painful minute. Diane was staring hard at the floor, unwilling to meet my eyes. Knowing better than to push her to talk to me, I slowly pulled a chair over towards where I was and I sat down. When I startled her, she looked up and took a step back, farther away from me, "Sorry. I just need to sit down."

Diane begun to wring her hands together as she paced back and forth on the opposite side of the room, "Why'd this happen to me?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out. That's why we're all here."

She finally sat on the edge of the gurney, but kept her distance from me, "The last lady told me I was the only one that lived. She said there were others?"

I confirmed what Sara told her, "Yeah. You're the only survivor."

When she started to cry again, I slid a box of Kleenex across the floor. The noise startled her and the box stopped just short of the gurney. After pulling a few out, Diane bent down to get the whole box and thanked me. "I don't know whether to be happy I'm alive or pissed off I'm not dead."

"Always be happy you survived."

"Oh yeah? Then how the hell do I get these memories of what that man did to me out of my head? How am I supposed to go on with a normal life knowing I was almost killed and if I hadn't kneed him in the nads, I'd be dead too?" She crossed her arms across her chest and sat on the floor, "I'm supposed to be grateful I've got a black belt in karate and was able to kick him and run away without my shoes into the night?"

I didn't have an answer right away. Diane didn't press me for one so I just let her lead the conversation wherever she wanted, "I'm not even from here. I'm from Henderson. I had the crazy idea to meet some guy I met off the internet…"

I interrupted her, "Love Dot Net?"

She looked up, "Yeah…."

"The other ladies. They had memberships to the same site."

"Guess that's how the creep found me." Diane pulled a blanket off the gurney and wrapped herself up. Wearing only the standard issue hospital gown, she had to be cold sitting on the floor with the events of what she had been through chilling her to the core.

Following her lead, I moved my chair out of the way and sat on the floor myself, but kept my distance on the opposite side of the room. I let her talk more about how she was feeling before she started to open up about specific details, "He seemed too sweet. Childlike almost. He knew exactly how to charm me and said all the right things at the right time. He really had me hooked."

Trying not to pry her too much, I had to start the investigation but I knew I had to be tactful about how I handled it, "His name was what?"

"Collin. Collin Billings, or that's what he told me at least. I didn't exactly ask for ID and online you can be whoever you want."

Finally. We had a name to go with the killer. "What'd he look like?"

Searching around the room, Diane was looking for something, "My cell phone?"

I didn't see anything when I came in, "I don't know where it is. It may have been thrown into the bag with your clothes and stuff. Who'd you need to call?" I pulled my phone out of my pocket and slid it across the floor, "You can use mine."

She picked up my older model department issued flip phone and stared at it, "You actually use this? Do they even still make these?"

Smiling slightly, I had to agree with her, "They are outdated but the department doesn't like to spend money on stuff like that."

"I just needed access to my email. I could show you a picture of what he looked like."

I told Diane I'd be right back and got Grissom to find me a laptop that one of the physicians used. After she pulled up her email, we had a clear photo of the man who was behind the killings. I forwarded the email to both Grissom as well as Brass to see if they could get any hits in the DMV database while I kept talking to Diane. I still hadn't processed her feet which were still wrapped in surgical shoe covers to preserve evidence. Not wanting to press her, I knew she'd let me near her eventually but I had to win her trust first.

She stared at the picture a moment before she slammed the laptop shut and pulled the blanket tighter around her body. Seeing that as my cue I asked her slide the laptop to me and we'd get it out of the room. I handed it back to a nurse outside the door and resumed my post, sitting against the cabinets on the south end of the room while Diane stayed on the north end. At least I had gotten her out from behind the gurney. It was a small step.

While I got her to talk, I hit the record button on the digital recorder I had in my pocket to record what she was telling me. Diane recalled the first day she signed up for Love Dot Net followed by a string of bad dates with a few men before Collin entered her life. "Right from the start, he was different. He wasn't a jerk. He offered to meet me in Henderson for our first date. He told me he lived outside Reno in some small little town that I can't remember the name of. We talked for about six months before I actually agreed to meet him. Phone, email, even through instant messaging. I used the site's dating service at first to communicate, but after I met him, I told him I was canceling my account and gave him my Yahoo IM name. We talked there for a while."

As she talked, I kept working the timeline in my head. She would have been talking to him about the same time as one of the other victims was killed. "Anyway, we met for lunch at the Hotel Paris. He said he was staying there, but as we talked, he said he had gotten another room at the Vegas Motor Lodge and wanted to take me there. When I objected and told him I wanted to go home, he stood up and stuck a knife at my side and told me to go with him or he'd gut me like a fish." Diane touched her side, "The knife was here. Not wanting to die, I followed him. We took his car."

"What kind of car was it?" I stopped writing my narrative long enough to look up at her. She finally made eye contact with me, but kept her distance, "Color or anything?"

"It was an older model Ford Explorer. Dark blue I think. Maybe black? It was dark so I don't know. There was a sticker on the back passenger window of something but I don't remember what it was. Also, the back seat was missing. I thought that was a bit strange that it was just the driver's seat and the passenger's seat in the car and that was it."

"Diane, if you need a break or anything, let me know and we'll stop." I knew how taxing this had to be on her and now that she was finally talking to me, I didn't want to do anything to risk it.

"Can I have some water or a Coke or something? I'm thirsty."

I stood up, "Sure." Leaving my clipboard with my narrative on it on the floor, I got up and went outside. Telling Grissom that Diane wanted a Coke, he handed me a dollar bill and told me the machines were around the corner.

After getting her Coke, I knocked on the door and started to roll it across the floor, but remembering the carbonation, it'd blow up, "Can I hand this to you? I don't want it to fizz everywhere when you open it?"

Diane started to stand up, but stopped herself and instead, held out her hand, "Thank you." She gingerly took the can from me and switched it to her other hand so she could shake mine, "Diane Coyle."

I shook her hand and gave her a warm smile, "Nick Stokes."

I took my seat back at the south end of the room, but Diane surprised me by moving closer to me. She sat against the east wall of the room, about fifteen feet away from me. It was better than before but I knew I had a long way to go. "So, he had the knife at your side and forced you to get into a dark blue or black Ford Explorer with no back seat and a sticker on the window?"

"Yeah."

"Did he say anything to you on the ride to the hotel?"

"No. He just handed me that card and told me not to say anything once we got out or he'd kill me. He did tell me to take off my shoes and socks. Guess he didn't want me running. Oh, he had some sort of flower in his hand."

The last piece of the puzzle was falling into place. The flower with the ribbon. Diane hadn't mentioned it until now. "What'd he do with them and the flower?"

Diane shrugged, "Guess my shoes are still in the car. I don't remember what he did with the flower. I just thought it was strange he didn't give it to me when we first met."

I continued writing as I listened to her account of the events. After arriving at the hotel, he kept the knife on her side and walked closely to the hotel room which was on the third floor. Coming up the stairs, he tripped, "The stairs were wet from the rain and that's when I saw my chance."

"You got away?"

She took a drink from her can and set it on the ground before drawing her knees to her chest and resting her chin on the edge of her knees, "For a moment, yes. I ran but didn't get far. He grabbed me from behind and slammed me into the wall. When he had me pinned I kept remembering this saying my self defense instructor kept telling us in class. 'Behind the dog there is a ball. Knee him there and watch him fall.' It's funny what you remember but I just knew if I didn't get away, I'd die. When he was yelling at me to shut up, he wasn't paying attention to me lifting my knee up and with all the strength I had, I kneed him as hard as I could right in the nads. He dropped like a rock."

"And then you got away?"

"Yes. He was withering on the ground in pain. The knife he had at my side fell over the balcony and into the bushes at the hotel. I ran around the back side of the building and luckily there was a staircase. Flying down the stairs as fast as I could, I ran away until I saw the two policemen who brought me in. I tripped over something on my way towards the cop cars and fell and that's when I hurt my wrist."

I got out my phone and sent Grissom a text to check the hotel room as well as the area near the front balcony where Diane said she was. "You're doing great. You don't know how much you're helping us."

"I know you people speak for the dead. I guess today I am too." She sighed and stood up and sat on the edge of the gurney, "You can check me now. I'm ready."

I processed her as quickly as I could while being as gentle as possible. Diane continued to tell me about the events of the night in detail from the time she met Collin to the time she met me. "Will I have to testify in court?"

I set the cotton swab I had down after I snapped the plastic lid shut, "I don't know. I really don't. With you being the only victim that is alive, there's a possibility you may have to."

"I figured. Will you be there?"

"Yes. I've been with this case since the first victim."

I let Diane put on a pair of socks and shoes that Sara had left in the room, "Promise me if I have to testify that you'll be there for me? I don't want to do this alone. I'm not strong enough."

Pulling my gloves off and dropping them into an evidence bag, I glanced over at Diane as she was tying the laces on the right shoe, "Of course."

I excused myself from the room after giving Diane one of my business cards, telling her to call me if she ever needed anything and that we'd be in touch about the case.

A month later, work was slow again and Grissom had everyone at the lab pouring over the Gemini case. It was the top index card on his big fish cork board in his office and until it was solved, any down time in the lab was to be spent on this case.

Stretching the tense muscles in my neck, I stood up and with my arms over my head, I stretched upward, trying to relieve the tension in my back. Sitting down for the past two hours, sifting through evidence I knew by heart looking for anything we missed the first four dozen times we looked through it, was hurting me. My eyes were crossed, my back was cramped and my neck was stiff from sitting down for so long. It felt so good to stand up, but I knew it wouldn't last. After a brief break, it'd be back to the salt mines to finish up until it was time to go home.

Anna was off and was at home and after checking my phone, she had texted me wanting to know if I wanted anything for lunch. Preferring to do our shopping late at night when the stores were less crowded, she said she was already in town and was at Wal-Mart and for me to text her if I needed anything. I replied that I didn't and went back to work.

" _Nick Stokes to the reception lobby. Nick Stokes to reception."_

Glad to have the chance to get up once again and stretch my muscles, I went up front and Judy told me that some man I wanted to talk to was on his way to the PD and he asked specifically for me. Asking Judy to describe the man, she said she didn't remember much except that he was cute. Packing up everything I was sifting through, I resealed and signed the box and shoved it back on the same shelf in the evidence locker and left, wondering why someone didn't call me. Brass usually called us on the phone to ask us to stop by, but this was unusual for someone to request that I stop by.

No sooner had I gotten in my truck and pulled out onto the road, my phone rang. It was Grissom, no doubt wondering where I was and why I wasn't back at the lab until my shift was over, "Grissom?"

"Nick. I have news."

This wasn't how I expected the phone call to go. I shifted my phone to my other ear, "Yeah?"

Grissom actually sounded excited, "DNA panned out. Wendy just found me and said that the DNA that you got from the victim at the hospital is a match to the DNA we found at one of the crime scenes. It's the same guy and he was on that bus crash. I had Desert Palms courier over his medical records. Guy's name is in fact Collin Billings, just as the victim that lived said it was. We got him. We finally got the bastard."

"Great. Listen, I'm heading over to the LVPD. Someone wants to see me there but I don't know who. Judy gave me the message."

"I'll get Brass to get a warrant and we'll go arrest this guy. Great job on the case, Nick. As always, great job."

Thanking Grissom, I let the phone drop from my shoulder to my hand before I let it fall into the cup holder in the center console of the Tahoe.

Pulling into the LVPD, I got out and was still confused as to why someone wanted me to meet them there. I passed by a few of the officers I knew from working here so long and they both told me that the person who wanted to see me was in interrogation room number one with Brass.

When I rounded the corner and my eyes focused on the form in the room with Brass, I froze. It was Collin Billings. He was here. I dug my phone out of my pocket and called Grissom, "You're not gonna believe it but…"

He interrupted, "Billings is at the PD? Brass just sent me a text. Stay there. Warrick and I are on our way."

I numbly stuck the phone back in my pocket and hit the button on the intercom system so I could hear what they were saying.

"You want me to talk?" Collin smiled. I could tell from my vantage point behind the one way mirror he was enjoying the attention. Closing my eyes, I tried to tune it out. "You want me to talk and tell you everything. I want something in return. You want me to abase myself, right?"

"A basically. Yeah."

"You're pushing it."

Brass scooted his chair back and folded his arms, "What? What is it that you want?"

Collin pointed to the mirror, "Him." He waved. "I know Nick is watching. You want me to talk, I talk only to Nick. That's why I went by the crime lab. I want him here. I saw him at the hospital after I guess he was with the one that got away."

"You know what I do all day long?"

"It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're a cop, ergo, you arrest people."

"That too." Brass leaned forward in his chair as he put one of his palms on the table and stood up, "I talk to liars all day long."

"So what?" Collin took a drink from the cup of water in front of him, "Want an award? A medal?"

"As a result, I've developed this finely tuned crap detector. I don't need the CSIs to tell me anything or to tell me you're stalling for time. I know you are."

"Good for you. Now send the other one in or I'm not saying another thing. I'll invoke my right to counsel."

Brass turned and left the room. I knew he was coming to talk to me. "Nick?" He opened the door. "You heard all that, huh?"

"Yeah. Why does he want to talk to me?"

He shook his head, "I don't know. Give it a go. We already have him nailed for the murders and the DNA from the last victim matched also but I don't know what he wants to talk about. Maybe he wants to confess to past crimes or gloat or something. I'll be right here and Mitch will be in the room with you."

Sighing, I left Brass where he was and went back to the interrogation room and opened the door. Mitch moved in closer to me and stayed back beside the door. I looked over at him and he nodded slowly letting me know he had my back if Collin tried anything. I looked down in time to see Mitch unsnap the safety snap on his gun holster and rest his right hand on top of his weapon. "Mr. Nick Stokes. How good of you to join me. Won't you have a seat? I'd offer you something to drink, but as you can see…" Collin pulled his arms up and showed me that he was shackled to the table. "Sit. Let's talk."

"About what?"

"Oh, I don't know. You're not a cop are you?"

I shook my head, "Nope. But that's why I brought him." I pointed behind me to Mitch

Mitch was smug, never taking his hand off his gun, "Go on. Make my day."

"Nah. I'd much rather chat with you." Collin got quiet as he looked at me, "You're married."

I had opened the case folder Brass left in the room and had started to look through Brass's notes to get out my intake form to finish, but looked up, "Excuse me?"

"I said you're married. I see the ring. Do you love your wife?"

Pulling the form out and starting to write, I shook my head, "That's none of your concern." Hiding my left hand under the table, I finished the prisoner intake evidence report I was writing. "Why am I here?"

"It's just a question." Collin was staring at me and it made me uncomfortable. "I just wanted to know if you love her."

"Why does it matter? Do you even know what love is?" When he nodded his head, I tossed my pen on the table, "No you don't. You couldn't."

"Enlighten me then."

"If you were capable of love, you wouldn't have ever done what you did. You killed your own sister. Your own sister. You may not have seen her since you were younger, but your own sister. You looked into her eyes and took her life away. I know you're adopted and all and you didn't know her but really."

"Yeah. I did. Want to know why?"

"Enlighten me."

"She should have found me earlier. I stayed in foster care for a while and kept getting bounced around. She should have stuck up for me. I would have."

This man was as sick as he was twisted. "So, you killed your own sister because she didn't convince her adoptive parents to adopt you?"

"Basically. I had to get even somehow with those who hurt me."

"So, why Diane Coyle then? What'd she do to you?"

He smirked, "I was bored."

"I get bored and I watch TV. You get bored and you kill people?"

"Sure. Why not?"

I had enough. Not many people could get under my skin, but this deranged man was. I stood up and shoved my chair under the table as I shoved my report in the folder and got my field kit, "You are incapable of love. If you knew what it was, you would have never done this. I'm just thankful you're going to spend the rest of your life in an eight by eight concrete box with as little human contact as possible until they strap you to a gurney and end your pathetic life." I stepped back and pulled the door open, "Enjoy prison, Collin Billings."

I opened the door and stepped out in the hallway. Casting one last glance into the room, Collin was still sitting in the same position he was in earlier, but the look of smugness was gone, having been replaced by fear. I had won. He tried to manipulate me, but I beat him at his own game. I did feel sorry for Mitch who was still in the room and was grateful to see Warrick and Grissom moving towards me. They told me they'd take care of processing and for me to go home and I gladly accepted.

Anna wasn't home when I got there. I sent her a quick text to let her know I was home and tossed my phone on the counter and took off my shirt as I was walking back to our bedroom. I left the shirt in the hallway floor and kicked one of my shoes into the hall bathroom and the other shoe I left in the hall. I dropped my belt at the doorway to our room and kicked my pants off and threw them on the bed. I was worked up over finally catching Gemini but now that he was caught, the high of doing my job was wearing off and I was beginning to crash. I wanted Anna home now, but she wasn't. Stripping out of the rest of my clothes, I found a pair of my swim trunks and grabbed a towel and with the dogs following me, I headed towards the lap pool, anxious to work off the pent up energy I had inside.

I was swimming laps when I felt something splash behind me. When I stopped and looked up, Anna was standing over the pool, looking down at me, "How long have you been standing here?"

"Long enough to try to get your attention. I tried everything before I had to toss the kick board at you. You looked like you were trying to swim away from something."

"Long day." I pulled myself out of the pool and grabbed a towel off of the planter. Draco looked up when she saw me reach for the towel. Cassie, who was next to Draco, didn't even realize I was there. "Some guard dogs you two are." I dried off my face and looked over at Anna, "Caught the Gemini killer. He slipped up when that lady kicked him and got away and Sara and I brought him in earlier. Turned himself in but he wanted to gloat first. They usually do."

"You must be relieved to finally get him off the streets."

"Yeah, I guess so." I looked over at Anna. She was waiting for me on one of the lounge chairs in the sun room. Pulling her knees to her chest, she rested her head on top of them as she waited on me to continue, "It's just that when I looked at this guy and talked to him, he was just scary."

"Scary as in coked out Jason with a chainsaw or scary as in empty shell person?"

"The empty shell person. He had no emotions. No remorse. It was like he didn't even care about anything. Not his life or anything that he had done. What happens to a person to make them reach that point in their life? How does a person like that get too lost to be found again?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders, "I wish I knew. There are a lot of people I have met, especially through work, where I wonder what happened to them. To me, there came a time in each one of those lives where they made a decision or did something to change them and in some cases, it was the decisions not made or the something that never happens that changed them. It kinda makes me glad in my childhood that there were some happy times to rely on when the bad times took over and I didn't turn psychotic. My childhood was far from perfect, but I have no homicidal tendencies thank God. What was this guy's story?"

"Apparently, he was getting back at the people from his past. He was adopted and the first lady killed, Carol Kirby, was the woman at the DHS office in Idaho that handled his adoption. The second victim killed was his biological sister. Apparently, his real mother had twins and gave them both up for adoption and they were split up. The third victim he killed was, well, she was just someone he killed because he could and the fourth was lucky to have survived. She was just someone he met off that dating site." I toweled off my hair, "I guess that whole nature versus nurture thing holds true. From what I could gather, he had a great childhood, but he resented his life."

"Sounds like someone else we both knew but wish we didn't."

I didn't even make the connection to Nigel Crane, "Oh, damn. I didn't even…"

Anna interrupted me, "I'm fine, Nicky. No need to go getting all weird on me or anything. It just struck me as odd that both this guy and Nigel were brought up the same way basically with them being adopted and feeling out of place and both turned to acts of violence rather than seeking help for whatever it was that bothered them but they're both in a place where they can't hurt anyone else and that's all that matters."

I moved over to the chair behind Anna and held her tightly, not caring that I got her soaking wet in the process, "Do you know how much easier you make my job?"

"The hard parts are still hard but they're more bearable now that I'm here?"

"Exactly." I let the towel drop to the floor and carried Anna back inside the house, thankful that after a day like I had today, I no longer had to come home to an empty house and wallow in what I had done.

**A/N: And at this time, I'd like to announce my year long hiatus due to th…Just kidding. :) I wouldn't torture y'all like that. Next chapter is in the works and I have started it but I'm still dealing with some writer's block. I know where I want this story to go (eventually we'll get to Grave Danger and how it affects both Anna and Nick and the aftermath) but it's bridging the gap that is holding me back. The good part is that the stuff around Grave Danger and post-GD is already written out so updates will come much faster than they have now. That was the easy part to write. The hard part is the next few chapters. Just stick with me.**

**Not entirely sure I like how this chapter turned out but oh well. Review and tell me what you think.**


	36. Lay It Down Slow

**Chapter 36 – Lay It Down Slow**

**Three months later or sometime in early February**

"Thank you." Diane reached up to hug me, "I told you I'd never get through this without you and I mean that."

I returned the hug, "You did fantastic." Releasing her, she moved closer to her sister who had come with her to the trial, "Without your testimony and the vivid details that you recalled, we would have been lost. You sent him away and he'll never be able to hurt anyone again and the citizens of Las Vegas owe you."

"No, I owe you." Diane hugged me again before she and her sister turned and left the courthouse.

Feeling proud of myself, I loosened my tie and checked my phone. Nothing from work so as far as I was concerned, I was able to leave and head home. Thankfully, I had the smarts enough to throw everything I'd need in the back of my Tahoe to save a ride back to the lab before I went home. Inevitably, half a dozen people would need something or the day shift supervisor would ask me to fill in for one of her guys on a "simple" case that would turn out to be a sixteen hour ordeal, one of which I'd have to spend a week and a half in court only to have the case thrown out because the defendant pled guilty and we weren't needed after all.

I said goodbye to Diane one more time on my way out. Her sister was doing the best she could to shield her from reporters. I felt bad for both of them and retraced my steps and helped out and got another hug and another thank you from both of them before they drove off.

Anxious to get home, I didn't waste any time leaving the parking lot. Once I got on to the highway to Summerlin, I drove a bit faster than I should have but was thankful when I finally got home that I didn't meet any Nevada Highway Patrolmen on my way home. Last thing I needed was a reprimand in my personnel file from Ecklie about getting a speeding ticket off duty in my company truck.

Anna was spread out in the laundry room on the floor folding towels. She had a stack behind her and a stack in front of her and was pulling them out of the dryer, "Everything go okay?"

"Yep." I bent down to kiss her while she went back to folding towels, "Slam dunk case. He pled not guilty of course but thanks to yours truly and the victim that lived, he's going away for a long time. Still got that stomach bug?" Anna took one look at me and dropped the towel she was holding and got up and ran back to the bathroom. I winced as I heard her getting sick, "I'll take that as a yes." Draco was worried about what was going on and trotted back to the bathroom while Cassie fell over in the laundry room and began to snore.

I didn't really want to hear her throwing up so I took refuge in our bedroom and left the door cracked. About half an hour later, Anna came in, looking like death. She had her hair wrapped up in a towel and was still wet from her shower. Lacking the energy, she fell back on the bed and looked up at me. I took the hint and propped her up while I dried her off and rubbed lotion all over her body. After I was done, I handed her one of my t-shirts and she got in bed and groaned, "Bryan Brooks must die."

Smiling, I got Anna's brush off of her nightstand and had her sit up long enough to brush the tangles out, "Why?"

"La sick, la puke, la die. He was sick last week, remember? He infected me with his cooties."

I laughed and gently brushed out Anna's hair while she used what little bit of strength she had left to sit up. When I was finished, she fell back and was asleep within minutes.

Two days later when it was time for her to go in to work, she felt much better. "See." She kissed me as she picked up her duty bag and jacket, "Just a stomach bug. I'm fine."

"You look pale though." I felt of her forehead and she felt normal to me, but Anna just didn't look right, "You could call in."

"And miss free donuts at work? Hell no. Anna must have donuts! Anna needs donuts to work properly."

I finally relaxed. Anna referring to herself in the third person always made me smile. Kissing me once more, I held the door open and kept the dogs from bolting out the door as Anna got in her truck and left.

I stayed up for a little bit and did some housework, but quickly found myself getting more exhausted with every step I took. I gave up and took a shower and went to bed myself.

When I got up, Anna had texted me asking if I'd bring a bottle of ginger ale by the station to calm her stomach. I dropped the bottle off at the station with one of the guys on the ambulance crew after he explained Anna and Bryan were on the engine today and they were out at a fire call in a subdivision not too far from the station. Well, at least I knew what my assignment was when I got to the lab. Arson calls always took up the better portion of my shift and I knew it'd make the fly by.

To my surprise, I wasn't assigned the arson call. I got an easy hit and run case which took up less than two hours of my time. I was just about to text Anna to see if she was free when my phone alerted me to another text.

" _Shots fired off Highway 301 near the county line. Hurry. Grissom."_

I never understood why he signed his own texts. It came from his number so we'd all know it was him, but he still signed his last name on all of his texts. Grabbing some fresh supplies for my field kit, I left the lab and headed out to the scene.

The scene was in a more remote part of Clark County. Almost to the edge of the next county, the highway was barren except for mountains on one side in the distance and a grove of trees to the other. Grissom wasted no time sprinting to my truck when he saw me arrive. "Got here as fast as I could."

Either he didn't hear me or he didn't care. He jumped right into the scene description, "Driver was over there." Grissom motioned over his shoulder, "Shots came from over behind the trees. Highway patrol got the call and found the truck where it is now and called for LVFD. Driver wrecked and hit the wall and the tank caught fire. Fire department got the driver out and extinguished the flames then they called us. Catherine told me day shift worked a similar case on Boulder Canyon Highway a few days ago."

"So the shootings may be connected?"

"Not going there, Nick. You know I don't like to jump to conclusions without the proper evidence to back it up. That's how our judgment is skewed. When we do that, we see what we want to see to prove our theory and not what we have to see to make a valid case."

"Thanks, Confucius." I muttered under my breath so Grissom wouldn't hear me as I looked behind me to a grove of about five oak trees just off to the side of the road. Sara and Warrick were already over there processing as I started walking towards the wrecked tanker. "How's the driver?"

"On his way to Desert Palms. I think Sara said she overheard one of the paramedics saying something about a gunshot to the abdomen. I'm not really sure." Grissom was snapping on his gloves as a police officer held up the crime scene tape, "He'll need to be interviewed at some point in time after we're done here."

Keeping an eye on the surrounding area, the smoke from the tanker was almost gone. The fire department had been on the scene a bit longer than we had and got the blaze under control. I saw Bryan when I first got here, but hadn't laid eyes on Anna yet but one of her co-workers recognized me and said she was here somewhere. Grissom had busied himself with the highway officer who was first on the scene, which left me with nothing to do.

Finally spotting Anna next to the engine she was in today, I made my way over to where she was. Bryan was rolling the hose while Anna was holding the compartment door open for him to put the hoses inside, "Hey."

She looked over her shoulder, "Hey Nicky."

"CSI Man." Bryan shoved the roll of hose into the compartment and Anna let the door slam shut, "Haven't seen you in a while."

"It's been what? Twelve hours?" I had stopped by the station earlier last night to bring Anna her ginger ale and I know that the guy who saw me told them I stopped by, "Or are you being sarcastic?"

"He's being sarcastic." Anna yawned and took her helmet off and set it on the engine's metal step, "We're about finished here and are waiting on the Glow Worms to get finished, then we're gone."

"The who?"

Anna yawned again, "HAZMAT. We call them glow worms."

Bryan could tell I was still confused, "They deal with all sorts of hazardous stuff. You know? Becoming radioactive from job exposure hence glow worms."

"Cute." I turned my attention back to Anna, who had her head down and both her hands resting on the side of the engine, "Hon?" Without even acknowledging me, she ran around behind the fire truck and I heard her throw up. The sickly sweet smell of the foam the HAZMAT crews used to neutralize the chemicals in the tanker was thick and it made me a little ill to my stomach, but I held it in, "Anna?"

She came back around to my side of the truck and reached into another compartment and pulled out a chilled bottle of water, "That smell. It's just…"

"Thick?"

"Aggie threw up!" Bryan was yelling to the other guys across the road, "Hurry it up."

"Frog, I'm fine." Anna tried to shrug it off, "Ate too much at breakfast."

"You sure you're alright? You look pale." Bryan had put a hand on her forehead to check for her temperature, "You're hot."

"I am in turnouts in the heat in the desert."

"It's February."

"Fine." The firmness in her voice was melting into impatience now, "I am in turnouts in the desert next to a flaming truck. Of course I'm hot."

"You still don't look right. You need to sit down."

"Bryan, I'm fine!" Anna snapped, "Damn it, I threw up. I am fine!"

Bryan conceded defeat with a sigh, "Forgive me for giving a damn about you."

Anna unscrewed the top of the bottle and finished most of it before she picked up her helmet and heavy turnout coat that was hanging on a hook on the side of the engine and tossed them both into the back seat and shut the door. Bryan started to say something else to Anna, but he changed his mind and helped the other guys load the other two hoses, "I don't know what that guy was carrying, but that mixed with the foam was too much on top of the breakfast we had before we got the call."

I kept catching Anna staring at me as we watched everyone on the fire department finish up at the scene. The Glow Worms as she put it finally finished and gave us the all clear sign for us to start our investigation. Anna seemed to be debating with herself about something but she evidently decided against whatever it was and turned her attention back to Bryan and the three other guys approaching the engine. I recognized all of them but one. He stopped long enough to put another roll of hose in a compartment and went around the side of the truck Anna threw up on and got in, waiting on the others to they could leave, "Well, I guess we're off. We're done here."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She kissed me on the cheek, "I will be when we get back to the station and get a shower. I've got to stop by the store for some food and then I'll be home."

"See you then." I returned the kiss and watched as she got in the engine and Bryan got in beside her. Turning around, Anna waved at me from the back glass as Bryan blew me a kiss. I laughed to myself before I turned my full attention to the wreck site.

Greg arrived a little bit after Anna left and together, the two of us pulled several bullets from the burned cab of the truck. Sara and Warrick found a few cartridge casings and a Coke can on the side of the road and we were hopeful that we'd find out who shot up the truck as it was on the road. Greg left the scene and went to the hospital after Grissom told him the driver was awake.

When I finished processing my portion of the evidence at the lab, I checked in with Grissom who told me to stop by the hospital on my way home, "Greg should have been back by now."

"He probably got side tracked or something. I'll let you know." I told Grissom I'd see him later and after a stop in the locker room to grab my stuff, I left the lab, thankful to have another day behind me.

After arriving at Desert Palms, I checked the driver's room for Greg. He told me that Greg had been gone for about half an hour. I thanked him and wished him well and headed back downstairs. I finally found Greg in a hallway right off the emergency department. A nurse had her hands on a gurney but she had stopped to talk to him. The closer I got to them, I could tell the person on the gurney was dead. This woman had actually stopped shoving a dead body to flirt and Greg had let her, "Ahem?"

He looked a bit embarrassed that he was caught, "Dominique, this is Nick Stokes. He works with me at the Crime Lab."

Dominique held out her hand and I shook it, "Pleased to meet you."

She leaned forward in an attempt to catch my eye again giving me a flirty smile, obviously trying to see where I stood, "I'm married." I held up my hand to show off my wedding ring, "See? And he's on the clock."

With a tiny laugh, she turned back to Greg, "Well, you have my number. I look forward to your call." She squeezed his hand before she started to push the gurney away, "Nice to meet you, Nick Stokes."

"Still married." The nurse walked off but not before turning around and giving Greg another flirty smile as she pushed the gurney around the corner. "Flirting over a DB. Nice."

"Like you have any room to talk. Physician heal thyself."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Greg's attention was still focused on the hallway that his new interest went down, "You met Anna at a crime scene or did you forget that part?"

"Over here, Sanders." I popped him once on the shoulder to get him to focus back on me and our case, "Yeah but there wasn't a dead body. Just a dead flower pot. How's the driver?"

"After they had topped him off with a unit of blood, he had regained the use of most of his brain but he said he didn't see anything. He was on the highway headed towards Barstow when he heard this pop and felt something stabbing him in the gut. He swerved and ran off the road. Next thing he remembered was the ambulance crew pulling him to safety. That's it."

"Well, he's no help. Surgeons get the bullet out?"

Greg held up a plastic evidence baggie, "Yep. Right here. I was on my way back to the lab to drop this off with Bobby Dawson when Dominique stopped me."

I groaned at the way he pronounced Dominique. That woman was no more French than I was, yet Greg was saying her name as if she was, "Really?"

"What?"

I led him out of the ED doors and back to the parking lot, "She was pushing a dead body, man. You were flirting with her while a dead man was in between you."

"I doubt he minded at all. He's dead. But those eyes…" Greg got lost in a daze. "Did you see those eyes?"

"Yeah. She about burned a hole in my ass as she walked off. Speaking of asses, you better get back to the lab. Grissom was looking for you."

Greg checked his watch and uttered an explicative, "I didn't mean to stay so long, but it was…"

I interrupted, "Dominique. I know."

I stayed in the parking lot long enough to make sure Greg remembered that he was going back to the lab and not to find his new friend. After he successfully drove off, I put my field kit in the back seat and headed home.

The house was dark when I got home, except for the lamp next to the sofa. It was our custom that whoever got home first always turned that lamp on for the other one. Anna was home, but she said something about going to the store when I saw her earlier. I checked my watch and saw there was no way she could have left Las Vegas, stopped by the store and had time to get back to Summerlin in the time it took me to leave the lab and pry Greg away from his new conquest.

Putting my keys on the shelf of the bookcase where I kept them, I saw a note taped to the TV.  _'In bed. Not feeling well and didn't go to the store. We can go later if you want. Love you.'_  On my way back to our bedroom, I put the note down on the counter and took a shower before I got in bed with Anna who didn't even wake up. Reaching over her shoulder, I felt of her neck and she was a little bit hot. She sighed in her sleep and moved over closer to me. I pulled the covers up and fell asleep beside her.

About ten hours later, I woke up with Anna still sleeping in the bed next to me. Turning on the TV in our room, I flipped through a few channels before I found a movie on HBO I wanted to watch again. Finally waking up, Anna yawned and stretched and reached over to pet Draco who woke up when she heard Anna stirring. "Hey."

"Feeling better?"

She shook her head and yawned, "Not really. I'm still a bit queasy but I'll manage." Snuggling up next to me, I put my right arm around Anna's shoulders and watched TV while she napped some more. When she finally woke up, we went to the store together and did our mandatory splitting of the list to make our trip faster. I took the grocery side of the list while Anna insisted on the other side. I knew I was out of shampoo and she needed deodorant but her insistence on taking that portion of the list surprised me, but I gave it to her.

We met up front at the check stands and being the dutiful husband I was, I offered to get the truck and meet her at the front door and did just that a few minutes later when she came out, pushing our haul.

Anna said she was hungry and realizing I hadn't eaten since I got off work either, I decided against cooking and stopped by Subway on our way home and we were finished before we even got home.

It took three trips to the truck before we had everything inside the house. Anna tossed a couple of new rawhide chews down for the dogs so they'd leave us alone long enough to put everything up.

"Here. Put that up for me."

She handed me another sack full of groceries and as I started to pull out the bread to put in the cupboard, something at the bottom of the bag caught my eye. It was a pink box and the words  _Home Pregnancy Test_  were on the front in white lettering, "Um, Anna?"

"Oui, mon amor?"

I reached in the bag to get the test but stopped myself, "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"

Anna's face was blank, "I love you?"

"I love you, too but that's not what I meant." I reached in and got the box and held it up, "I meant this. This is why you didn't want to do the food side of our list?"

"Oh. Yeah." Her face flashed crimson red, "That." She took the box from me and hid it behind her back, "It's a pregnancy test."

"I can read. Are you…"

She shrugged, "I'm late. I got what I thought was a period in November then in December it was just one day but January nothing and this month nothing. Earlier at that tanker wreck when I threw up…I don't know. Stuff like that doesn't bother me. It never has. Bryan made a comment earlier about my donut consumption going up and as politely as he could, he said I was sort of busting out of my uniform shirt at the chest level."

"So you were planning on telling me when? When you were in labor?"

Anna groaned, "I doubt you'd be able to go that long without noticing." She put the box on the counter behind her and hugged me, "I wanted to be sure first. I was gonna pee on the little stick thing then see what it says. If it was positive, I'd tell you and if it wasn't, I didn't want to get your hopes up. I know how much you want a baby. That's why I went off the birth control pills I was on. I just didn't think it'd be this soon."

I hugged her back, "Go pee."

"Excuse me?"

"Go." I reached over and got the box, "Go. Pee now. I want to know one way or another. I'm in this with you no matter what the results are."

Anna took the box from me and hesitated before she went to the bathroom. A few moments later as I was putting away the last of the groceries, she came to the kitchen and leaned against the refrigerator, "Well?"

"I don't know. I'm scared to look." She checked her watch, "The instructions on the box said to wait five minutes. It's only been two."

"So now what?"

"We wait."

I started putting away the rest of the groceries as Anna helped me. She had the refrigerator door open and had a package of tomatoes in her hand and was staring at them, "Honey, you put them in the fridge and close the door."

Anna snapped out of her trance and dropped the tomatoes in the bin and closed the door, "I know. I was a little preoccupied. It's been five minutes."

"Want me to look?"

She stopped me before I could get back to our bathroom, "No. I'll go. You wait here."

Disappearing around the corner in the hallway, I leaned against the cabinets in the kitchen, waiting on her to get back. Cassie's food bucket was empty so in a small attempt to pass the time until Anna got back up front, I tore open the new bag of dog food we bought and dumped part of it into her bucket.

"Nicky! Get back here!"

I left the bag of dog food in the middle of the kitchen and ran to our bedroom. The light to our bathroom was on and the door was half closed. Anna had her head down and was staring at the pregnancy test in her hands, "Honey?"

The look on Anna's face went from blank to shock and awe, "Oh my…"

"Anna? Honey?"

"It's pink." Anna held the stick out towards me as she smiled, "Nicky, it's pink. I can't believe it. It's pink."

"Pink?" I could barely speak. I knew what it meant but my mind wasn't processing what was going on, "And that means?"

"What do you think it means?" Anna started to smile as she put her arms around my waist, "I'm pregnant. We're gonna have a baby."

I had to sit down. With my arm stretched behind me, I felt around until I found the edge of the bed and sat on it, "A baby? So it's…and you're…we're…oh…Wow."

"Not the reaction I expected you to have." She shoved me backwards on the bed so I wouldn't fall off, "I don't need you knocking yourself unconscious."

As I went to lie back, I pulled Anna on top of me, "You're pregnant?"

"You're not mad?"

"Why on earth would I be mad?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders, "We haven't even been married a year yet. Is it too soon?"

"No. I'm not mad and it's not too soon." Hugging Anna tightly I tried to reassure her, "I am happy. You know I wanted kids for a while but I didn't want to rush you."

"Good." Anna sighed, "Wow. I'm pregnant."

I sat up and almost knocked Anna off the bed, "So, there's a baby." I put my hand on her stomach, "In there?"

"Honey, you took biology. I know you know where babies grow." She put her hand across mine, "I'll make an appointment with my doctor to confirm it, but those tests are supposedly 99% accurate. I have to be pregnant. I threw up at that tanker fire scene earlier and for some reason, I want donuts and it explains why I was so sick earlier. It was morning sickness, not what Bryan had. I like donuts, but not that much."

"Your donut craving has always been there, but even I noticed you've been wolfing donuts down by the truckload." The shock of the news was still hitting me, "So now what?"

"Are you gonna be like this for the next nine months? I'll make the appointment with my doctor tomorrow and get a blood test to find out and after that, we'll go from there."

"I want you to know, I'm totally gonna be a hands on dad."

Anna looked pleased, "Well, that's good to know."

I started to smile, "Like if the baby needs a bottle in the middle of the night, I will totally keep your side of the bed warm until you get back. I'll even turn on a light or something for you." When Anna playfully hit me, I told her I was only kidding, "We'll figure it out at some point in time." A thought of Anna on top of a burning building frightened me, "What about work?" I put my other hand on her stomach as she scooted back towards the head of the bed and went to lie back against my chest, "I don't want my pregnant wife on top of a burning building dressed in a hundred pounds of fire fighting equipment."

"I'll have to ask my shift captain when I see him next. I'm sure I can get preferential treatment. I'll probably be assigned only to the ambulance from now on out and after a certain period of time, I'll probably be assigned to drive only and have Bryan or whoever the other medic is I'm working with in the back. There are ways around it you know. I'm not gonna put myself or this baby in danger." She turned her head to the side so she could see me, "I promise you I want this as much as you do but first things first. I'll have to confirm I'm pregnant first."

"Make the appointment for the doctor's visit now."

"Nicky, it's nine o'clock at night. I doubt the doctor's office is open."

I tightened my arms around Anna's chest, "I just want you healthy. You and the baby healthy."

"You should call your parents."

"Now? You don't wait to wait until you're sure after the doctor's visit?"

Anna shook her head, "It's up to you. I'll email mine. Like they'll care anyway."

I patted Anna on the shoulder and she sat up long enough for me to reach into my back pocket for my phone. "Here goes." I dialed my parents' number and waited on someone to answer. "Mom?"

"Nicholas! How are you?"

"I didn't call too late did I? Anna and I have something we wanted to tell you." After turning on the speaker, I put the phone down on the bed so Anna could hear what was going on as she put her arms around my neck and kissed me, just behind my ear. "She's here with me."

"Anna, how are you?"

Anna smiled at me as she sat back down on the bed, "I'm fine, mom. Can you get dad near the phone as well?"

"Sure." We listened as my mother called my father to the phone, "Nicholas and Anna have something they want to tell us." As soon as he go to the phone, my mother turned the speaker on their phone on so my father could hear, "What is it, Nicholas?"

I looked at Anna, "Should you?"

She shook her head, "No, this is your family. You do it."

My father cleared his throat, "Do what? Nicholas, what is going on? You're scaring your mother."

"Mom, I'm fine. Anna's fine. We were deciding on who should be the one to tell you that Anna is pregnant." My mother gasped and my father didn't say anything, "Mom? Dad?"

"Nicholas! It's about time." My mother was tearing up as she spoke, "I'm so happy for you both. How far along? What about names? Anna, how are you feeling?"

Anna started to smile, "I'm feeling fine apart from the morning sickness. I just found out and if I had to guess, I'm about ten weeks. I'll make an appointment with my doctor tomorrow to get everything confirmed and we haven't though about any names just yet. We haven't gotten that far. We're still in shock. I just took a home pregnancy test earlier and it was positive. I'm pregnant."

"Well congratulations to both of you."

I listened as Anna and my parents talked some more about the pregnancy. When they finally hung up, I called in sick to work, too excited to go. Anna swore me to secrecy until she confirmed the pregnancy with her doctor and until she passed her first trimester. According to her, it was bad luck to tell people until then. I agreed to keep quiet but I did warn her that I do work with investigators and it is their job to get to the bottom of things.

A few hours later, we were back in bed and were watching TV when Anna muted the sound, "Nicky?"

"Mmm…"

She sat up in bed, "What if…" Anna grabbed one of my hands and held onto it, "What…"

I sat up in bed, "What is it?" Looking at her, she was on the verge of tears, "What if what?"

"What if I treat this baby like my mother treated me?" She started to cry, "What if I don't love my own baby?"

"Anna."

"Nick, I'm serious." Anna sniffled and wiped her tears with her shirt, "I never talked to my mother or asked her why she was so distanced from me and why she was so uninvolved to the point of Bryan's parents signing all my consent forms and permission slips for school. I ever tell you that?"

"No. You didn't." I should have been surprised, but given Anna's past, it didn't really shock me at all, "And the school allowed it?"

"Back then, no one cared. Bryan's mom would sign my report cards at parent teacher conferences most of the time. I should have asked why my mother didn't treat me the same way she treated Sam. I don't know if it was something I did or what, but what if when this baby's born, I don't feel anything." Anna started to cry again, "What if I don't love my own baby?"

"Honey." I pulled on Anna's arm and she fell back on the bed as I returned to my spot beside her. She moved in as close as she could to me without physically being on top of me, "I don't think you have any chance of ever turning out like your mother. I've never known two more different people. You and Bryan joke all the time about being long lost twins and in a way, I'm beginning to believe that in some soap opera fashion sense, his mother sold you to Celine because she couldn't afford you." I put my hand across Anna's stomach again, "What can I do to help? Anything?"

"Just forgive the rantings of a messed up pregnant lady."

"I assure you," I brought Anna into a tight hug and kissed the side of her cheek, "Nothing like that is gonna happen to you. I promise you."

That seemed to pacify her enough so we could finish up the TV show I had started and after that was over with, we put in a couple movies to keep my schedule of being awake at night in tact. When daylight hit, I got up and made an early breakfast for us and we both fell asleep after we were finished eating.

Four days after the home pregnancy test and four nights of everyone at work pestering me as to why I was off work, I was sitting in the waiting room of Anna's doctor's office. The nurse had taken Anna on back and said she'd come get me in a little bit to talk things over. I was leafing through a magazine, bored out of my mind when the nurse came to get me and told me to follow her, finally stopping at the ultrasound door. Anna was on the table and reached for my hand, "I'm definitely pregnant. Blood test confirmed it."

"So why are you back here?" I pulled a stool closer to the exam table Anna was lying on and sat down, "They have to do something else?"

"Ultrasound, Nicky. The blood test only confirms I'm pregnant. The ultrasound will tell us how far along I really am. I do have a request when we're done here though."

I brushed a strand of hair out of Anna's eyes, "Anything."

"Donuts. I want donuts."

That set me off with a fit of laughter, "I guess I need to buy stock in Krispy Kreme huh?"

There was a knock at the door and an older lady with short black hair came in, "Mrs. Stokes?"

"Please call me Anna."

The lady held out her hand, "I'm Pam Elliott. I'll do your ultrasound today and see how far along you are." She eyed me, "You must be…"

"Oh, my husband. Nick."

Pam shook my hand then washed hers and got the bottle of ultrasound gel out of the cart and squirted enough on Anna's stomach to cover it three times. When she got the wand out of the side of the cart and hit the power button, I froze as my breath caught. This was it. "Let's see what we have here." Pam moved the ultrasound wand across Anna's stomach, "Oh, there you are." She pointed to a grainy blob on the screen. "You are 100% pregnant. Congratulations."

Anna's eyes were fixated on the monitor as I saw a smile slowly spread across her face, "That's the baby?"

"Yep." She continued to move the wand around, trying to get a better view, "Looks like from this and the date of your last period that you're about thirteen weeks. Good, strong heartbeat. You're almost in to your second trimester."

I had to sit down. The blurry blob on the screen was my child. My child was growing inside my wife. I was a father. "Can you tell what it is yet?"

"Nicky." Anna laughed, "It's way too early for that. All I care about is that it's healthy. Boy or girl, it doesn't matter. Get your phone out so you can get a picture of the screen. I want to text a few people."

"Oh, I'll print out some pictures from the ultrasound if you want." Pam hit a button on the monitor and a picture printed out, "I'll print off some more, too."

Half an hour later, Anna was wiping gel off of her stomach as I helped her sit up. Anna's new doctor, Dr. Mary Anne Lindley, told Anna that everything was progressing nicely and wanted her back in a month or so for a follow up exam.

Hand in hand, we left the doctor's office. Anna had the ultrasound photos in her other hand and as we waited on the elevator, she dropped my hand and took a picture of one of the photos with her phone. The elevator dinged and the doors opened as she was busy attaching the photo to the text message, "Bryan?"

"Yeah, but I think I'll wait." She saved the text message and hugged me as the doors shut.

I led her out of the building, still shocked at the news we just heard. Opening the door for Anna, she sat down and started to fasten her seatbelt, but I stopped her, "Love you."

"Love you too, Nicky. Thank you for calming my fears last night."

I shut the door and got in on the other side and watched as Anna held up one of the ultrasound photos and took a picture of it, "Here goes."

Anna sent the text and by the time I got my truck started and my seatbelt on, Bryan was calling. I left the doctor's office as I listened in on her side of the conversation. Gone was the look of worry last night, having been replaced by a look of peacefulness and calm. I just hoped it was enough and that when our baby was born, Anna wouldn't turn out like her mother.

When the two of them finally ended their phone call, Anna said she needed to run by the station to talk to Zach about her scheduling, "Might as well get it over with. He should be there."

I was still in a fog about the baby news so I just nodded and turned at the next light to get me going in the right direction towards the fire station. Anna told me to come in with her when we got there, but I noticed she stuffed the ultrasound photos in her pocket, "I don't want everyone to know just yet. I'll tell them, but not right now." Again, I couldn't say anything so I just walked with her in silence.

"Aggie."

"Hey Moose." A fireman I had seen a few times stood up, "Remember my husband, right?"

"CSI Man. How could I forget?"

I had to smile knowing everyone in Anna's station referred to me as CSI Man. Even when I wasn't anywhere near Anna and caught a call with the LVFD, people still called me CSI Man. Apparently, the "tell a friend, telephone, tell a fireman" joke held true. I wasn't even sure if half of them knew my real name, "Hey." I was pleased with myself that my voice had returned.

"What are you doing here? I know you're off because Frog's not here."

"Yeah, I am. I needed to talk to Captain a sec. I saw his truck outside."

Moose moved out of the way and led us back towards the Captain's office and he didn't even bother to knock before he held the door open, "Aggie's here with CSI Man." After Moose excused himself, Zach stood up and shook my hand.

"Aggie." He saw us together and he started to panic, "Jesus, you're quitting. You brought CSI Man here with you because you're quitting." Zach sat down behind his desk, "No. You can't quit. You're one of the best medics we have. Nick, please don't let your wife quit. We need her."

I hid a smile when he used my given name and was impressed that he actually knew it, "No one else will work with Bryan?"

"Precisely."

Anna started to laugh, "No, I'm not quitting, but Nick and I both needed to talk to you for a second."

"Well as long as you're not quitting. Sit." He shut the door behind us as Anna and I took the two chairs in front of Zach's desk, "What can I help you with?"

"Well, I think it's best if we show you." Anna handed over one of the ultrasound photos from earlier, "That."

"Well I'll be damned. It's a baby. You're pregnant." Zach held the picture in his hand and stared at it before he gave it back to Anna and motioned for the other ones she was holding, "Congratulations. Both of you."

"Thank you. I just confirmed it today that I'm thirteen weeks right now. Everything is going swimmingly. I do need to talk to you about my work schedule though."

"You're in luck." Zack pulled out a book from one of his desk drawers, "One of the other gals from another station is on maternity leave as we speak. I had to look this up for her a few months back. First trimester, we'll leave it up to your own accord. Do your job as you see fit. Second trimester, no fire calls. Period. Ambulance only. Seeing as how you're thirteen weeks now, I'll have your schedule rearranged so you're on the ambulance from here on out. Third trimester, we recommend taking maternity leave plus another two months after the baby is born."

Anna looked pale, "You mean I have to be off work for five months? Three months of the pregnancy then another two months after the baby is born?"

"We strongly suggest it but I can't force you to. It's up to you."

"She will." I wasn't going to let Anna's job interfere with this pregnancy, "I'll see to it."

"Nick!"

"Anna, listen to him. I don't want you putting this baby or yourself in danger."

"We'll talk about it later." Anna was glaring at me, "I guess the best thing to do would be just see how I'm feeling in my third trimester. If I'm feeling like this, I'll see if I can be a driver or something, but I can't guarantee it. I wouldn't want to subject five months of Bryan Brooks to some unsuspecting firefighter."

Zach laughed, "Actually, I'd probably be the one stuck with him for most of it."

Anna and Zach discussed some more about her pregnancy impacting the job while I stared down at the sonogram. It was a blurry image at best, but I thought I could vaguely make out the baby's features if I imagined hard enough, but it still looked like something out of an alien movie. How anyone could see a baby out of this blob was beyond me. I did some pregnancy research at work last night and learned some about fetal development, but not much. I needed to call Allison to ask her about that book she swore by when she was pregnant.

"Oh, and one more thing." I looked up as Anna stood up, "The other guys don't know yet so I'd appreciate no one knowing up here until I have a chance to tell everyone on my next shift. I'd never hear the end of it if someone else told everyone first."

"You got it. Guess we'll see you in a few days for work. If you need to go throw up or something due to morning sickness, we can put a puke bucket in the trucks."

Anna didn't know whether to laugh or if Zach was being serious, but when he cracked a smile, she laughed, "Thanks."

After leaving the station and the curious glances of her co-workers, I asked if she was hungry. Saying she was, but not for a big meal, I decided that going through a drive through for some sandwiches would work and after stopping at Subway, I got back on the highway and started home.

"Emily."

"Huh?"

"For a name. I like Emily."

Names. I had forgotten that we had to not only come up with but agree on a name for this baby, "I dated a girl named Emily in college."

"Scratch that." Anna took another bite of her sandwich, "For damn sure it won't be Meri-something. I'm not torturing my child like my mother did me."

"What?" I started to laugh, "No Meri-Anna the second?"

"Ugh, no. Nick Junior is fine if it's a boy, but there will be no Meri hyphen names and no French names."

I was laughing harder by now, "No Jacques? Pierre? Francois?"

"Francois?" Anna tossed a pickle off of her sandwich at me, "Pierre Jacques Stoke? No. Hell no."

"Oh come on." I picked the pickle up and ate it as I thought of a retort, "Pierre Jacques Stokes." I started to laugh, "Can you imagine the looks we'd get when we introduced him to my parents? My Texas living southern parents?" By now, I was laughing pretty hard, "We'd never hear the end of it."

"You're demented." Anna shook her head and got ready to launch part of a piece of lettuce at me before she stopped herself and stuffed it back inside her sandwich, "I guess we've got a while to decide on names. Oh lord…"

"What?"

"Nursery." She dropped her sandwich, "We need a nursery. Cribs and diapers and stuff. Where should we even begin?"

"Relax. We've got plenty of time to get all that straightened out."

"Nick, the baby will be here before we know it. Which room do we want to even use for a nursery?"

I stopped to think. Our house had five bedrooms. One Anna and I were using as an office. One was set up as a guest room and one was just a hodgepodge of stuff we really didn't have room for and the back bedroom we used for more storage. "The back room? The one we use for our secondary storage room? It's the closest to the back of the house and is nearest to our bedroom." By this time, Anna was done with her sandwich and was holding her Sprite in her hands, running her right hand up and down the edge of the cup. "You look miles away."

She made a futile attempt to cover her thoughts, "Names, doctors' visits, a rearranged work schedule, baby monitors and cribs plus we'll have to paint and decorate and all that stuff. It's just so much."

Knowing what she was really thinking, I made her put down her drink so I could hold her hand, "Honey, you don't need to worry about not loving this baby. You won't be like your mother was to you."

"Scary how well you know me."

"I do know you, but I don't have to in order to know what you're thinking. Would it help to talk to your mother about all this?"

"Doubt it. She'd tell me she did the best she could or she'd make up some excuse. It'd do no good."

"Anna, you've got me. You've got my family. You've got a wonderful support system in place. I don't think you'll have a thing to worry about when Nick Junior comes."

That got her attention and she smiled, "Nick Junior?"

"Well, since you nixed the idea of Meri-Anna Junior."

I finally made her tension disappear slightly, "Just hope we don't need mediators to decide our child's name."

"It could be twins."

Anna blanched, "Nicky…"

"Or triplets. Or better yet, even four of them, whatever that'd be called." The look Anna was giving me made me laugh, "Relax, Multiples don't run in my family and you've never mentioned if they run in yours."

"As far as I know they don't. I don't have many cousins and the ones I do have, I haven't seen since I was five."

Another two weeks passed and Anna was still dealing with horrible morning sickness. Even at nearly sixteen weeks along, she was still feeling sick whenever she woke up. When she was at home, she had nothing to worry about but she was in a tizzy about work. Anna was still adamant about not telling anyone at work just yet, but I kept telling her that someone was about to find out. Everyone at work sensed something was up with us, but Anna's gag order had me staying silent on the baby news.

Not only was Anna busting out of her tops, but she was already about to reach the limits with her pre-pregnancy pants. Zach had ordered her several pairs of maternity pants and they had come in, but Anna was refusing to put them on until she split the seams on the pants she had on. Plus as small as she was, it was getting downright noticeable to anyone who saw her out and about.

I had just gotten home from work and I was exhausted. Anna wasn't home yet and as was our custom, I turned the lamp on in the living room and left all my gear on the couch where I dropped it. I knew I'd hear about it when Anna got home, but I was so exhausted. Between a steady week of court appearances plus work and living on less than four hours worth of sleep a night, I was about ready to crawl into a hole and never come out.

Anna gently nudged me when she got home to let me know she was okay. I stayed awake long enough to hear the water in the shower turn on, but didn't even realize when she got in bed. She was up before I was and had cooked lunch for us both and even brought my tray back to me. Her stomach was starting to expand and the tight t-shirt she had on over her yoga pants showed off her growing baby bump. "Well, everyone at the station knows thanks to Bryan."

I smiled. This had to be good seeing as how Anna was blaming Bryan for telling everyone, "And how do they know? Station announcement? Dancing pigeons? Airplane banner?"

"No. He made me drive all shift which was fine. Zach was actually worried about me working in the back. Anyway, Bryan and I were coming back to the station this morning and he was in front of me being protective. He was making people move and making sure no furniture was in my way so I couldn't trip." Anna groaned, "Anyway, I got annoyed with him making sure everyone was out of my way and I blurted out that I was pregnant, not blind."

"Classic."

"Now that's out in the open, I can freely have morning sickness all the time. The guys even voted on giving me my own bathroom near my bunk so if I have to go hurl, I don't have far to go."

"Awful nice of them."

I stabbed a bite of Anna's lasagna and watched as she looked down at it and ran to the bathroom, "Oh God!"

I had gotten used to hearing that over the past few weeks. Obviously lasagna is on her not to eat list, but I'll be damned if I put it on mine. Satisfied with myself, I took a bite but immediately felt guilty over Anna being sick. Putting my plate out of reach of the dogs, I toasted a bagel for Anna and left it dry and poured a glass of ginger ale, two things that she could keep down when morning sickness hit and started towards the bathroom. It was the least I could do. I left the plate and the cup on Anna's side of the bed and went to the bathroom to retrieve her and bring her back to bed.

**A/N: So…Anna's pregnant. Surprise! I hope y'all like this. I actually wrote it a long time ago, but had to polish and piece together the finer points. Look for more pregnancy news next chapter when Nick tells everyone at work and Bryan starts a baby pool and you know it'll get interesting. :)**


	37. Follow On

**Chapter 37 – Follow On**

"Nick?"

I looked up to see Catherine in the doorway, "Yeah?"

She gently shut the door and took a seat bedside me, "I don't quite know how to say this but I have a question."

I folded my arms across my chest, "I might have an answer."

"I couldn't help but notice earlier in your locker that you had a certain book…" She trailed off, hinting at me to take the bait. When I remained silent, she sighed, "Is Anna…"

Catherine saw the Bradley Method book I had in my locker. Anna was determined to have this baby naturally with no pain medications, so I picked the book up for her earlier tonight and left it in my locker. I figured I'd at least have some fun if anything with teasing Catherine, "Is Anna what? Human. Yes. She's very human. Anything else?"

"Nick…"

I sighed, "Yes. Anna is pregnant."

Catherine screeched, "Nick!" She reached down to hug me, knocking me off balance on the bench in the locker room, "How's she doing? How far along?"

"She's fine other than morning sickness nearly every day. She just had her first doctor's appointment not too long ago and was thirteen weeks when we found out, but she's closer to seventeen now."

"Why didn't you tell us earlier?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Ask Anna. I was under a gag order until just recently. Her co-workers only found out a little bit ago after Bryan spilled the beans."

"Let me throw her a baby shower." Catherine's face lit up, "I can have it at my house and we can invite your parents plus everyone here at the lab plus everyone at her work. Oh, please say yes."

Catherine was on the verge of begging which made me uneasy, "You'll have to talk to Anna about that one. She'll be at work in a couple days." I grabbed the pregnancy book and shoved it down in my bag, "I'll tell everyone at work tomorrow when Grissom hands out assignments. Think you can keep it a secret until then?"

Saying she would, Catherine left the locker room with a big smile plastered across her face. I just hoped she'd be able to keep quiet.

True to her word, the next day at work, I sat down in the break room with Sara and Warrick as we waited on Catherine, Greg and Grissom to show up. Sara was playing a game on her phone and Warrick had his head down on his arms. If I knew the two of them, they'd be all over me if Catherine had blabbed her secret. Earlier when I passed by Hodges, Mandy and Wendy, they didn't say anything to me and I know that Mandy and Wendy would have cornered me and wanted all the juicy details. I planned on telling Anna about Catherine wanting to throw her a baby shower and I didn't think she'd have any problems with it. After I made my announcement after Grissom was through, I'd tell Catherine to get with Anna to go over the details of whatever baby showers included.

After the assignments were handed out, I told everyone I had an announcement, "I have something I wanted to tell everyone. I was told to keep quiet about this until now but I was told that I could tell everyone that…"

Catherine looked like she was about to burst, "Anna's pregnant!"

"Thanks, Cath."

I got hugs from Grissom, Sara, Warrick and Greg and after I told them as little as possible about Anna's pregnancy, I was thankful I was working alone tonight. Catherine had Lindsey but as far as CSI children went, that was it. Lindsey was born before I started working here. I was still in Texas so my child would be the first CSI baby as Catherine called it. I could only imagine what that meant.

I got through with my case early and Grissom told me I could go home, which I was grateful. Anna was asleep when I got home and didn't even stir when I got in bed next to her. I was exhausted from the baby news as well as work work and the never ending court cases I had to testify about and it felt good to get a few hours' sleep and I really needed it.

Anna's crying startled me and in my drowsiness, I became tangled in the covers. Finally kicking them off, I found Anna leaning against the wall in our closet. She was half dressed for work and her work pants were down around her ankles but I couldn't figure out why she was crying, "Anna?" The words that came out of her mouth were jumbled and I couldn't understand her, "Honey, calm down." I hugged Anna as she kicked out of her work pants and continued to cry, "What is it? Are you okay? The baby okay?"

Sniffling, she let me go and wiped her face with the back of her hands, "My pants!" With that, it set off another round of crying, "My pants!"

I wasn't following, "Are on the ground. Do you need help? You can't reach them? What?"

"No! They won't fit anymore."

I had to hold back a laugh that all of this was due to Anna having to swap to her maternity pants for work, "Oh." I couldn't think of anything else to do except hug her and she let me but continued to cry, "Honey, it's okay. They're just pants."

"I know." Sniffling again, I handed her the maternity pants that were hung up next to the pair she tried and couldn't get on, "But it's just…" She trailed off as she tried to gather her thoughts and held up her maternity pants, "I have to wear them now."

"You are pregnant, love. Of course you have to wear them. You're already showing and we both knew you couldn't wear them for much longer."

With that, it set Anna off on another crying binge and I knew I was to blame. I gently led her back to the bed and had her sit down as I sat on the floor in front of her, "Anna, it's okay. They're just pants."

"But I can't wear them anymore!"

Clearly I was going nowhere fast. With a little bit of reverse psychology and the promise I'd bring donuts by work later on, Anna cheered up and put on her maternity pants. I told her I loved her and kissed her goodbye and breathed a sigh of relief when she finally left.

Anna's next doctor's appointment was a week later and I told her I'd meet her at work and follow her there. I made a mental note to ask Dr. Lindley if crying over pants was a normal thing or not. She had another episode over fruit when we ran out of apples earlier in the week, but I made an emergency trip to the store and came back with a sack of apples and that resulted in a very happy wife.

Since everyone at work knew Anna was pregnant, everyone was going out of their way to allow me the time off I needed to go to the appointments with Anna. Today, Greg filled in for me on the court case we were headed to so I could get off in time to get to the station to go with Anna.

When I got there, she was nowhere to be found, but Bryan was outside putting his gear in the back of his truck. He'd be the perfect one to ask about Anna's mood outbursts, "Hey, Bryan?"

He stopped in his tracks and looked at me, "Yeah?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"When Cathy was pregnant, did she just…" I tried to think how to word it without insulting Anna, "Did she just burst out crying for no reason?"

He laughed as we walked back inside the station, "Lord yes. She'd cry at Hallmark commercials. She cried because our septic system was flooded due to rain and she couldn't flush the toilet after she peed. She cried because the grapes in the fridge were red and not green. We should have bought stock in Kleenex. Lemme guess, Aggie has started crying over something stupid?"

"Yep. She was upset last week because she had to wear maternity pants and not her uniform pants."

"It gets better usually a year or so after the baby's born."

I blanched. I had to deal with two years of Anna crying over pants and the wrong color grapes? This was one of those things no one told me and it wasn't in that baby book she bought about what to expect during a pregnancy nor was it in the one I bought for her. I leafed through it, going over some points, but I failed to see anything about uncontrollable crying over grapes listed. "Seriously?"

"Unfortunately. You've got nine months of the pregnancy plus the hormones after the baby's born. It does get better and hopefully for your sanity's sake, you don't have to deal with it as long as I did or the cravings Cathy had which always seemed to happen at four in the morning."

Anna was already going through donuts like they were going out of style. I remember my sister wanting mashed potatoes, but nothing weird, "What'd Cathy want?"

"Pecans. She wanted lots of pecans which was strange because she never really wanted pecans before but being the dutiful husband I am, I obliged and bought lots of pecans."

"Do I even want to know what the two of you are discussing?" Anna was standing behind us, leaning against the hallway wall, "Secret man conclave?"

"Just giving CSI Man some pregnancy tips. You know like when you ask for something stupid at four in the morning, he better go get it?"

Anna smiled, "So far, the only things I want are donuts and I get enough of them here and in Summerlin. Pickles and ice cream don't sound appealing to me yet."

"Thank God." I breathed a sigh of relief that nothing weird had happened yet, other than the incident earlier with Anna's pants and the apples.

I told Anna I'd meet her at the doctor's office and left the station. Since I left earlier, I beat her to the office and parked towards the front of the building. With nothing else to do, I began to daydream as I stared at the sonogram photo I had taped to the visor of my truck. I wanted to know what the baby's sex was, but Anna didn't. This was the appointment where we could find out if we wanted to but out of respect for Anna, I wouldn't find out. I didn't know if I'd be able to contain myself and not be able to spoil it when I came home with footballs and clothes for boys.

If it was a boy, I already had plans for him. I wanted him to play sports like I did in school. Football for sure or my parents would never let us live it down and maybe baseball if he wanted. I wasn't much on hunting or fishing and there weren't many places in Nevada to do either, but there were plenty of other activities. Boy scouts maybe. My brother and I were both members and we had a lot of fun going hiking and camping. Then another thought hit me, "Wait a minute. I play golf. That's something we could do together." I could buy a set of golf clubs for him and I'd teach him how to play. "Perfect. Something Anna could do with us." When we went back to Texas, I'd teach him to ride a horse and learn how to feed and care for them like I did when I was younger. I'd show him where I grew up and my old schools. "Or I could just put him on one of ours. What am I thinking?" Pregnancy brain wasn't something only women had problems with.

I stared at the sonogram again, what if the baby was a girl? Girls can ride horses. Anna does. I recoiled at the thought of me in a tiara and pink tutu sitting at a plastic table having a tea party with a bunch of dolls, but it was part of what being a father was all about. As long as the pictures didn't get out, I could probably endure it.

My mind continued to wander about the thought of a daughter when dating came up. "She'll date when she graduates college." I smiled at my rule. I know how I was when I was a teenager and I could only imagine that teenagers today would be just as bad. "But I do carry a gun. Even better!" My dad put the fear of death into a few of the boys that my sisters brought around and I'd be even better. Camouflage paint, a hat with a tree branch on it. I'd do it all. My daughter would never date. Of course, she'd also likely never speak to me again, but I could manage to live with that.

I heard a knocking on the glass which startled me. Anna was standing next to my truck and waved at me when she got my attention, "Welcome back, Space Cowboy."

I shook it off and took Anna's hand and went inside, "Was just daydreaming."

"About?"

"You know how you were worked up over nursery and diapers and clothes and stuff?"

"Yeah…" Anna looked concerned, "What was yours about?"

"Dating. If this baby is a girl, she'll date when she's in college."

Anna groaned and pushed the button on the elevator, "Let's get her born, first."

She got checked in with her doctor and took a seat next to me on the plastic couch in the far corner of the room. I started leafing through a magazine while Anna closed her eyes, "Tired?"

"Nauseous."

"Do you need to…" With that, Anna got up off the couch and headed towards the bathroom. "I guess that's a yes." I waited on her to come back and after she got settled in next to me and got a magazine and after a few moments passed, I decided to tell her about Catherine, "Catherine wants to throw you a baby shower."

Anna put her magazine down, "Bryan said Cathy wanted to also. Maybe Cathy and Catherine could do it together? Catherine's house is more centrally located rather than everyone having to come to Summerlin to ours or to Cathy's. Just promise me you won't let them have any stupid games…"

"I'll do my best."

"Anna Stokes?"

Anna set her magazine down and stood up when the nurse called her name. I stayed where I was, telling Anna to have someone come get me when she was done, "Nick, I'm just here for some blood work and an ultrasound. Unless you're scared of needles, you can come back."

I followed Anna and the nurse through the door and into the back of the office. As always, the first thing with any appointment at a doctor's office, they wanted weight. Anna got on the scale but didn't want to know how much weight she gained. I saw the nurse write the number down and it wasn't that bad but I kept my mouth shut knowing how sensitive women were about their weight. Last thing I needed was a meltdown in the doctor's office.

We were dropped off with the phlebotomist who took her time in drawing enough blood out of Anna to run several tests. Finally, we were ushered into the ultrasound room and told that the tech and Dr. Lindley would be in shortly.

Anna yawned and sat on the table before lying back. I helped her put a pillow behind her head and held her hand as we discussed baby names, something we still hadn't agreed on, "Claire?"

I shook my head, "No. I know you said no Meri-something like your name, but what about Mary like the Virgin Mary? Mary Anne or Mary Catherine?"

"Catherine would think we named the baby after her."

She had a point, "Fine. Mary Ellen? You know? Like the Waltons?"

Anna groaned, "Lord we are gonna need mediators. I like Caroline but you already said no. Tabitha? Micah? Julie? Cora? Anything you like?"

"Caroline is a maybe but it's on the no side of maybe and I don't like the others."

"Well, I don't see you being helpful."

I brought up a list of baby names on Anna's iPhone, "Top ten baby names are…"

Anna interrupted me, "No. I'm not using a popular name. I'm not having our daughter go to school with a name like Peyton and being in a class with a dozen other Peytons. I don't want to go all celebrity and name her after a color and a plant but it won't be in the top ten list and no Jaydens either. I can't stand that name."

I kept searching for baby names while the ultrasound tech came in with Dr. Lindley. The tech got busy setting up while Dr. Lindley took some measurements and told Anna that her preliminary blood work looked fine, but the full panel would take a few days to get back, "Everything going okay? Any questions?"

"I have one." I put the phone down and hoped what I was about to say wouldn't upset Anna, "Is it normal for pregnant women to be sort of…" I had to walk on eggshells here, "Emotional?"

Dr. Lindley looked at me out of the corner of her eye as she kept an eye on Anna to make sure I didn't upset her. When the only thing Anna did was yawn, I knew I was safe, "Quite. When a woman is pregnant, her emotions run rampant. It's normal." She turned her attention to Anna, "I take it you were upset?"

"Yeah." Anna looked embarrassed, "I had a moment the other day about having to wear maternity pants at work. My regular work pants wouldn't fit anymore."

The ultrasound tech said she was ready to begin and Dr. Lindley excused herself and said she'd be back when we were finished to check on the baby herself. Still wanting to think of a name for a girl, I read the nametag on the woman in front of us. Her name was Elaine and I began to play that around in my head until I heard her speak, "Looking good. Looks real, real good. Do you want to know the baby's sex?"

Anna shook her head, "I don't but my husband does. You can tell him, but I don't want to know."

"Let's see what we have here. There's the baby's head." She pointed to the screen, "And there's an arm."

"That thing right there?"

"Yep." Elaine pointed to the blob on the screen, "That's the baby's arm but I can't get a clear view of the area I need to find out what it is." As she moved the wand around, she started to laugh, "The baby is mooning us. See?"

Pointing to the screen, I could faintly make out what she was talking about, "Figures." Anna was getting her way at least for now. I didn't know what our baby's gender was but I wanted to find out.

Anna wiped gel off of her stomach and sat up with my help after Dr. Lindley came in to check on the baby as well as Anna. We left the office with a sack full of prenatal vitamins as well as several thick brochures on childbirth, pregnancy and common problems with answers to questions about labor and delivery. She also advised us to pick a delivery hospital and take a tour of the labor and delivery suites as well as the nursery and the post partum floor as she walked us out, "I have privileges at Desert Palms as well as St. Sebastian's so either of those would work for me."

"Desert Palms is fine. Nick and I have both been there before." Elaine handed Anna more printouts from the ultrasound and she smiled, "Adding these to the baby book I've started."

Dr. Lindley told us she'd see us again in another month and told us to have a good day.

Anna made another appointment on her way out and handed me the bag with the pamphlets and vitamins in it, "Blood tests, ultrasounds, and more. Prenatal health is filled with needles and blood vials." I watched as she peeled the Band-Aid off of the inside of her elbow where the nurse had drawn blood, "I swear I think they're vampires or something."

"Drinking blood does not make you a vampire. It makes you a haematophage."

"Touché." Reaching up to kiss me, Anna hit the button of the elevator, "See you at home?"

"Actually, I have a better idea." I could tell by the look on her face what Anna was thinking, "No, not that. Well, at least not right now. I meant we should probably go baby shopping or something. We don't have anything we need. No diapers or wipes or bottles or clothes or anything."

"And I do need to register for stuff for the baby shower Cathy and Catherine are planning. Where to first?"

The elevator dinged and we stepped in, "How about we ride together and then on our way home, I'll drop you off and you can go home from there? It'd be easier than taking two cars."

"Fine with me."

I led Anna out into the parking lot and helped her in my truck. I suggested we go to Babies R Us first because that seemed to be the logical place to start.

"Excuse me?"

The cashier closest to Anna turned around, "Yes?"

"I need to register for a baby shower. Can you help me?"

The woman took us over to customer service and had us fill out a form with basic information on it. After we were done, she handed Anna a scan gun and told her to scan everything we wanted in, "It'll create a registry for you and after you're done, give us about a day and all of your stuff will be online. Your friends and family can search for you by either your name or your husband's name and your list will appear and can be printed off. When someone buys you something off of your list, the quantity will go down." She showed us a sample list, "See here where it says four packages of Pampers were scanned?"

I took the printout from the woman and Anna and I both looked, "Yeah." I pointed it out to Anna, "So according to this, someone bought this person two packages of Pampers and two are still left?"

"Precisely. Scan as much as you want or as little as you want. There's no limit. When you're done, just bring the scan gun back to me and I'll give you a printed list of what all you scanned plus some freebies for registering with us."

Anna told the woman thanks and took the scan gun from her as we made our way to the strollers, "Wow."

I echoed her sentiments and looked at the aisle of strollers with as much awe. Anna quickly found one she liked but the price was more than what she was comfortable with. When we found car seats, we ran into the same problems. The cheapest car seat for infants was just less than a hundred dollars. I wasn't aware baby supplies were so expensive, "Why not start at the back and work our way front? Looks like nursery stuff plus diapers are in the back?"

Anna agreed and took my hand as we started towards the back of the store. I scanned in a stuffed football and a tiny baseball glove when Anna wasn't paying attention. She scanned in a few teddy bears and some baby furniture before we finally made it to the back of the store.

I told her that my sister used a sling with both of her kids, "Allison said it was helpful when she was out running errands and needed her hands free." I found a moderately priced one and handed it to Anna, "Try it on. See what you think."

"How does this thing work?" Anna managed to get it over her shoulder like a backpack, but the part where the baby went was upside down, "Are we supposed to strap her in or something? Is it a baby backpack?"

Looking as clueless as Anna, I found a sales clerk who told Anna she had the sling on upside down, "It goes this way." I watched as the woman flipped the sling over and adjusted it to the proper setting, "Baby goes in here and your hands are still free to do whatever you need, but your baby is close enough to be comforted."

I told the sales girl thanks as I watched Anna fiddle with it, "I don't get what's wrong with just holding her."

"Me either. Should you put it on the registry?"

"Why not?" Anna took the sling off and scanned the barcode before putting it back on the shelf. While we were there, we scanned in diapers and wipes plus diaper bags and baby monitors. When I told my mother about the baby shower, she said she and dad would buy the car seat and my sisters would buy the stroller if I'd get Anna to pick out which ones she wanted. I felt a little guilty with the price of both, but while Anna was scanning plenty of onsies and baby shampoo, I used her iPhone and Googled the stroller and car seat she wanted and found that the reviews were not only positive, but the safety features were a comfort to me.

Finally, we headed back over to the stroller aisle. I was bewildered at the choices. Some looked like cars while others looked like the ones my parents had when I was a baby. I saw the one I Googled and told Anna to scan it, but she hesitated, "Nick, that stroller is almost two hundred dollars."

"But it's the one you want."

"Yeah." Anna sighed and handed me the scan gun, "But it's so expensive."

"Honey, my sisters are gonna take care of that stroller and I think Tyler said Marissa will help also. My parents are gonna buy us the car seat we want so we need to pick out what we want and not what's the cheapest. I don't want Thing in something cheap that can hurt him or her."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Thing?"

"Baby's new nickname."

She groaned and shook her head, "No."

We finished up at Babies R Us and planned on going to another store, but Anna was tired and wanted to go home. I dropped her off at Dr. Lindley's office to get her truck and headed home to wait on her.

Another week passed and Anna was back at work. Cathy and Catherine had set up the baby shower at Catherine's house and Anna was actually looking forward to it. She started to feel tired more than usual and was taking naps whenever she could. Her biggest complaint was the baby was awake when she was trying to sleep and when she was awake, Thing was asleep. Our resident pregnancy expert, Cathy, told Anna this was normal and said Cody did the same thing. Cathy's only advice was to sleep whenever Anna could because the later on in her pregnancy she got, the harder it'd be to sleep.

I was begging Anna to start taking it easy at work, but she insisted she felt fine. I had her shift captain on my side who also insisted that she start cutting back her shifts. Her doctor said as long as she kept her duty light, she was free to work as long as she wanted. I knew I had Bryan on my side also in that he'd keep Anna out of the back of the ambulance and make her drive, which was less stressful on both her and the baby. I had suggested she take leave from LVFD and try dispatching but she only said she'd think about it. Brass had told me that one of the dispatchers with the LVPD was on break from surgery and would likely be out for a while. I was hoping Anna would take it. She'd be away from the fire department and away from the danger, but I was having a hard time convincing her to take a desk job.

When she finally got home, I wanted to continue our conversation from last night at the station, but the topic of conversation quickly drifted when Anna mentioned the new baby pool at work, "Bryan started a baby pool at work." She looked annoyed, "He's supposed to call you or ask you next time you come by the station to see if you want to join in."

I had a funny feeling that Bryan would start something like this, "And how many people are in it so far?"

Anna went to lie back in bed after she kicked off her boots, "Everyone on my shift at the station plus most of the people on relief. He just started it Tuesday, so by the time we get back to work on Monday, it'll probably be just about everyone."

"Am I supposed to be upset that people are betting on you and when this baby will be born?"

"Meh. I don't care. It's all fun and games."

"Let me guess. You bet?"

"Damn straight I did." Anna put my hand across her stomach, "It's our baby and we should have a chance at winning the money."

"So what happens if no one gets it right?"

"I have a provision in it that the money goes to the animal rescue in town where I got Draco from." Anna had adopted Draco when she first moved to Las Vegas from Happy Hounds Rescue and volunteered there from time to time. "So we'll see who wins. Right now, the buy in is twenty dollars."

I told Anna I'd stop by next time she was at work and make a bet, but I felt uneasy betting on my own child. It was still entertaining to say the least and I knew that once my co-workers found out about it, they'd want in on it as well.

Our first wedding anniversary was four days later, during one of Anna's off days. I had put in time off to spend with Anna and Grissom happily approved it. With Anna still sound asleep in the bed, I got to work fixing her breakfast to bring to her in bed. Popping a couple of bagels in the toaster oven, I scrambled some eggs and fried some bacon, making sure to save some for the dogs. I dug out a serving tray from the pantry and set it up for her, complete with a plastic flower in a vase I had gotten from the store on my way home from work. When I got back from the kitchen, Anna was stirring in bed, "Happy anniversary, honey."

She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and sat up as much as she could in bed. I put the tray across her lap and pushed my pillow behind her to add support, "You're so sweet."

I took the cover off the dish and she saw I had made her two plain bagels, several strips of bacon and scrambled eggs, "I hope that's okay…" I didn't want to tell her 'I hope it doesn't make you throw up' but she got what I was trying to say.

"Perfect." She stabbed a bite of the eggs with her fork and swallowed it followed by a drink of milk and part of a strip of bacon, "Absolutely perfect."

I fixed my plate and got back in bed with Anna. Turning on the TV in our room, I channel surfed until I found a Walker, Texas Ranger rerun on TV. The show was cheesy, but it was filmed in Dallas and being from the area it was fun to pick out local landmarks. I had gotten good over the years of picking out places they filmed and had even been to a lot of them as a child. When the episode was over with, I took both of our plates back to the kitchen and let the dogs out in the back yard. Anna snuggled up next to me and managed to nap on and off for a couple of hours until I told her we had to get up, "I've got plans."

"Oh?"

"Yep." I got out of bed and held out my hands to help her out of bed, "And no, I won't tell you what they are. Now get up."

I took a shower with Anna and helped her get dressed. She found a sundress with an empire waistline that she could still fit in to but couldn't quite reach to get her shoes fastened. With her finally ready, I quickly got dressed and led her out of the house and headed into Vegas.

"No hints whatsoever?"

"I'll give you one. What I have planned is in Vegas."

Anna groaned, "You're no help."

I let her keep guessing until we got to the Venetian. She guessed skydiving, a David Copperfield show and baby shopping but none were correct, "We're here."

I let the valet open the door for Anna and handed him a tip, "Thanks." When I got to the passenger's side of my truck, Anna was staring up at the hotel, "Any guesses so far?"

"Nicky, I'm already pregnant. Though a romantic night alone with my husband does sound good."

"That's later on." I smiled as I led Anna through the hotel and back to where the entrance to the Emporio D'Gondola, "I hope you don't get seasick."

"A gondola ride?"

"Why not? I've always wanted to go on one and I figured now would be the perfect time." I checked us in and led Anna to a bench on the outside of the hotel to wait our turn. One other couple was in front of me and it looked like they were about to get married. "Remember how I suggested this for an idea when we were trying to decide on a venue for our wedding?"

"Yeah. I also remember telling you Bryan and Cathy would have to swim behind us for the ceremony since only two people can fit in the marriage gondola at a time. I'd never hear the end of it."

I took Anna's hand in both of mine, "And my parents would have disowned us." I watched as the young couple in front of us kept looking at each other, oblivious to the fact that life was going on around them. The woman was probably Anna's age but the man was a bit older, with graying hair at his sides. He had his hand on the small of her back and she had her arm looped through his. Wearing nothing but a simple white strapless dress and heels, she looked like the typical bride in Vegas. He was wearing a button down shirt and Dockers and when their turn finally came up, he helped her into the boat and gently sat down beside her, "So sweet."

For a spring day, the outside temperature was perfect. It was just about the same as when we got married. The sun was shining overhead with only a few clouds in the sky. Anna leaned in to me and tightened her hold on my hand as we continued to wait. Finally, they called my name and I helped her up and into the gondola. When I got seated, the gondolier took his place and looked at us, "Welcome aboard the gondola ride at the Venetian Hotel in beautiful Las Vegas." The boat bumped slightly when he shoved off, "My name is Cristiano Bracali and I am a gondolier at the Venetian. For the next half hour, you'll be transported around the grounds of the Venetian with me as your guide. As customary, we'll pass by several bridges and we have a tradition with each one of them."

Anna spoke up, "What's that?"

"In Venice, it's considered good luck to kiss as you go under each one of them."

I smiled, "It's our first wedding anniversary, so that won't be a problem." Anna took one of my hands in hers as we slowly made our way around the lagoon.

"Congratulazioni!" Cristiano steered the small boat around the lagoon slowly as beautiful Italian music played in the background. People on the street stopped to look at us and waved as we floated by. I paid for both the indoor and the outdoor rides so our ride would be slightly longer than the normal one.

As we were instructed, Anna and I kissed as we passed under each bridge and there were about six bridges. "I love you." I brought Anna's face closer to mine, "So much. You've given me everything and you have no idea how happy I am."

She returned the kiss and laid her head on my chest, "I love you too, Nicky. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me."

I put my hand across Anna's growing stomach, "I've got a life I never imagined."

When we were finished, Cristiano and I both helped Anna out of the gondola. She thanked him for the ride and took my hand and I led her back upstairs and out towards one of the restaurants inside the Venetian. Canyon Ranch Café was one everyone at work told me to try so since we were planning to be here anyway for not only the gondola ride, but for another surprise after dinner, I figured why not.

The hostess seated us rather quickly. I guess Anna being pregnant sent us to the front of the line for seating. She ordered a strawberry smoothie and a bowl of vegetarian chili and I ordered a burger. I knew Anna was eating light to keep the morning sickness in check, but I was hungry.

I told her I still had one more surprise left, but I was keeping quiet on what it was, "Not telling you. You'll find out when dinner is done."

Anna polished off her soup and smoothie a lot faster than I did my burger, "I'm done. Now tell me."

She had a way of twisting what I said to benefit her at times like this, "Fine. I'll tell you when we're both done."

Pouting ever so slightly, she started to people watch as I finished up. We discussed some more baby names and picking out colors for our nursery. Anna had asked Cathy about using Cody's crib and she said that was fine. "We still need a few more things, but we registered for a lot at the baby shower, so I'd like to wait until that's done."

"When's your shower?"

Anna was stirring the last little bit of Cool Whip in the bottom of her glass from her smoothie, "I'm twenty six weeks or about six months along now. Cathy said it's bad luck to have it before then, so it'll be next Saturday. I'm off work and so is Cathy. I think Bryan wants to come get you to play golf or something. He'll be by himself and said something about male bonding time. Catherine stopped by the station the other night and said she sent out the invitations to everyone, including your family. I told her not to bother with mine. I'm not sure who all is coming, but she said she invited a lot of people. I made a strict provision not to have any stupid games like cut the string to fit around my stomach. That's just wrong."

"Why?" I thought Anna looked good pregnant but she was concerned about her weight, "Dr. Lindley said you're fine with your weight and the baby's weight."

"That's not it. I know I'm pregnant and all but I still feel blah."

I left some money on the table for the bill and stood up, taking Anna's hand in mine, "Then I know exactly what will make you feel better. Last part of our anniversary surprise is around this way."

I led Anna out of the Canyon Ranch Café and led her toward Blue Man Theater, "I know you said you wanted to go."

Anna had the same reaction as with the Celtic Woman tickets I got her for her birthday a while back, "You're the best husband ever."

Two hours later, the show was over with and we both were covered in toilet paper and streamers. Anna was picking confetti out of her hair and I had a shirt full of glitter from the air cannons that the Blue Man Group fired during the show. It was a lot of fun and the perfect ending to our day.

A week later, Bryan came by and picked me up on the day of the shower and told me he'd drop Cathy and Anna at Catherine's. I made tee time at one of the golf courses in town and spent the afternoon chasing golf balls with Bryan. Rather than keeping up with strokes, we decided to count lost golf balls and whoever had the most lost golf balls won. Bryan beat me with a score of six lost golf balls to five.

When I got home, the living room was full of baby stuff. Mountains of diapers and wipes were stacked in the couch and in the corner was the box with the stroller I wanted. I smiled knowing my sisters and sister in law pitched in for that with Anna. She wasn't home yet but I could tell she had been. I had bought the paint for the baby's room and went to work painting the room while I waited on Anna to get home. Since we still didn't know what the gender of our baby was, we picked out a light green color with white trim for the doors and molding around the ceilings. I told Anna we could always paint it later if we didn't like it of if we wanted to change it.

By the time Anna and Cathy got home, I had most of the wall coloring done but the trim and the molding needed to be finished. Cathy was helping Anna move the rest of the stuff from the baby shower inside the house and when they were done, Anna started to show me what she got, "Oh, this one is from Catherine. She told me you had to open it."

Anna tossed me a shoebox sized box wrapped in silver paper, "Any clues as to what it was?"

"Nope." Anna was separating piles of diapers into age groups and was lining up the wipes and the shampoos and stuff for the nursery, "She just said that you had to open this one on your own."

I tore into the paper and pulled out a card. The card inside the box read ' _Since you don't know the gender of the baby, you get two of them. Love, Catherine and Lindsey'_ Digging deeper into the tissue paper and confetti, I pulled out two onsies, one in pink and one in blue. Written on the front side was  _Little Stokes_  and on the other side was  _CSI in Training._  I held up both onsies and showed Anna, "From Catherine."

"So sweet. We can put both of those in the diaper bag I'm taking to the hospital when the baby's born. Baby can come home in one of those."

"Which one were you planning on using for Thing?" Anna had two diaper bags on the couch, "You've got two."

Anna either didn't hear me or didn't care that I called the baby Thing again. I had taken to calling it Thing as a nickname, mainly to annoy her until we decided on a name, "Actually, I've got three, but I'll be using the green one." She pointed to a green plaid print diaper bag on top of the edge of the couch, "It's got room for my stuff in there as well and I don't want to be one of those mothers that need a valet to bring in my eight suitcases full of stuff."

"Are you nervous yet."

"Terrified." Anna didn't even look up from her sorting, "Absolutely terrified."

"Why?"

She dropped a package of wipes and moved over closer to me, "What do you think? Are we ready?"

"We will be." I kissed Anna and handed her the onsies Catherine got us, "I promise you we will be."

**A/N: Gondola ride in Las Vegas just sounds like something Nick would do and it's something I've always wanted to do…with George Eads. =) Please leave a review. It makes me happy when my readers take time out to tell me what they think.**

**Unless a plot bunny attacks, the next chapter will be the first part of Grave Danger. All of the GD chapters are written out but I need to polish them since I wrote those plus a few of the after chapters as well as the birth of Anna and Nick's baby several months ago.**

**Expect Grave Danger to cover at least three chapters, if not four, then the after period where Nick starts his recovery to last even longer than that. I hated on CSI where it was Grave Danger one day then a week later, Nick was fine. I know Nick mentioned on CSI he spent "a few weeks" in Texas to recover, but his recovery will take a lot longer and be a lot more in depth, at least in my CSI world.**


	38. Her Diamonds

**Chapter 38 – Her Diamonds**

**It bothered me that what was almost an hour or so after Nick was kidnapped that his parents were on the show. Granted, in CSI land, we really don't know how much time elapsed from when Nick was kidnapped to when his parents arrived, but since this is my story, they'll arrive later on rather than right away.**

**I will try to stick as close as I can to the original storyline, but since Anna is a figment of my imagination, the story won't be just like it was in the episode. Also, some of the events are out of order. I know in the episode, it started with Nick singing, Nick abducted, jump cut to earlier in the day then the lab banter then back to Nick in a trunk. I'm going to go in order as if it was happening in real life and not on TV. Since Nick is underground for the better half of the episodes, POV will also change through the story. As always, POV character is bolded.**

**It's also implied that Ecklie never split the team up in my story. I never cared much for that storyline but Catherine is assistant supervisor and can boss people around when Grissom isn't available.**

**It is mid to late May and Anna is just shy of 29 weeks pregnant.**

**Nick**

"Nicholas!"

Anna was in the kitchen holding up the cheese wrappers that I had left on the counter after I made a sandwich earlier. Since she used my full name, I knew that she was about to say something to me about why I didn't throw them away, "I wuff you."

She cracked a smile, "Too widdle, too wate." Anna held out her hand with the cheese wrapper, "This is how we throw cheese wrappers away in the Stokes household. First, we pick up the cheese wrapper off of the counter. Then, we walk to the garbage can and then," She stepped on the lever at the bottom of the can so the lid would pop up, "We deposit said wrapper in the can and that's it. I bet a monkey could do it, so why can't my husband?"

"Because I'm not a monkey?"

Anna groaned at my response, "Right. You're smarter than a monkey. I've got you trained to put the seat down so you don't have to pry my pregnant butt out of the bowl again but yet you can't make the two steps to the garbage can?"

I kissed her as I put my arms around her neck, "I'll do better. I promise." I felt something against my stomach, "And that was?"

"A hard kick." Anna had put her hands on the counter to steady herself as she leaned forward, "A really hard kick. Ouch." She grimaced as she rested her head on her arms on the counter, "Apparently, it's time for Leah's daily pull up routine followed by her Pilates. She's been really active the past couple days."

Anna had decided she liked the name Leah and had started calling the baby by that name not too long ago. We still didn't know the baby's gender, but she was convinced it was a girl. As long as I could still call it Thing, I didn't really care at this point, "That was a kick?" Even through Anna's shirt and the overalls she was wearing plus my shirt, I still felt it when I held her close to me, "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Guess Leah doesn't want you to go."

"Thing loves me?"

"Well, you are her father, Nicky. She probably recognizes your voice by now. Everything in that baby book I've got says that they can."

I thought it was best not to say anything so I just hid a smile, "I'm heading in to work. I'll call you later on and if I can, I'll sneak away for lunch." Anna reached up to hug me and laid her head on my chest, "But I can't promise anything. You're going to do what?"

"Save the planet? Perform brain surgery maybe? Scold my husband for not throwing cheese wrappers away again?" Anna shrugged her shoulders, "I'll be at home with the dogs and cat and will be watching a movie or Wii or something. May take a nap if Leah will cooperate." She put both of her hands on her middle, "But not looking like it. She's been active all night long. She sleeps when I'm awake and practices gymnastics in there when I'm trying to sleep. At this rate, I'll get sleep again when she's about thirty."

"I'll call you when I can. I love you." I put my hand on Anna's middle, "And I love you too Thing. Be nice to your mother and let her get some sleep. She gets cranky when you don't let her sleep." Anna playfully shoved me, "See what I mean." I gave Anna one more kiss and a hug before I left her at home and got ready to head into work.

When I got there, the lab hallways were empty and I went straight to the locker room to dump my stuff inside. Warrick was already in there and was already getting dressed, "Nick. How's Anna?"

"Fine." I opened my locker door and stuffed my bag inside and got my vest out, "She's doing well. Baby is doing fine but he won't flip over during an ultrasound to let us know what it is. Anna's convinced it's a girl but I think it's a boy and so does our doctor. Dr. Lindley caught a glimpse of something and told me when Anna was getting dressed that she thought she saw boy parts but couldn't be one hundred percent sure. My mother thinks it's a boy as well since she's only got one male grandchild. How'd the date go?"

Warrick had told me that he met a woman at Desert Palms not too long ago while he was there interviewing a suspect. He and the woman hit it off and had quite the time, "So I took my girl to that Ultimate Fight Championship on Saturday night."

I sat down on the bench in the locker room as I finished getting ready, "Oh, yeah, yeah, down over at the, uh, Spur?"

"Yeah, and almost ended up getting into a smack down of my own." He started to laugh, "Apparently when you're that rich, you don't even do your own ass kicking. You have a hired hand for ass kicking."

I laughed, "Remind me if I ever strike it rich to hire Chuck Norris as my own personal ass kicking bodyguard."

"Does it bother Anna that you carry a gun?"

"No. She's got her own concealed carry permit so it doesn't bother her. Why?"

"Tina." Warrick shut his locker and took the seat next to me on the bench as I continued to get ready, "You know, Tina doesn't like me carrying a gun. I play down the fact that I'm a cop when I'm with her anyway."

I started to put my vest on, "Tell her you're a copologist. That always makes Anna laugh."

"A copologist. I like it." He bent down to tie one of his shoes, "So, uh, we're standing out in front of the hotel, making out and this guy walks up to me, gets in my face and asks me how she is."

I watched as Warrick put the clip in his gun, checked the chamber and tucked it in his hip holster, "No way."

"Yeah. He was all over Tina."

"So? Throw him a smack down of his own?"

Warrick laughed, "I tell him to get lost and he says 'Make me.'"

I could only imagine what was coming next, "The things we do to protect a woman's honor."

"Yeah. So the guy took a step forward and out of nowhere his big, fat bodyguard looking like Wimpy from Popeye walks up and starts to close in on me."

"Where were the security guys at the hotel?"

"It was at the valet parking, which might as well be in Arizona seeing as how it's so far away from the lobby. This fat boy is looking like he's obviously carrying some sort of weapon and I'm standing there naked as a porn star with my girl since I took mine off to appease her."

"And did you tell them you're a copologist?"

"No, and I doubt they would have cared. One of the guys sounded Russian, like he  
was wanna be Mafia. Fat boy was obviously his bodyguard." I had my head down as I snapped my vest and checked my gun as Warrick continued, "So, you know, I wasn't physically afraid of the guys, but something was kind of sinister about them. They were provoking me, but they weren't making a move. It was almost like they were waiting for me to make a move. Say if I smacked big-mouth, fat boy would've come over and stabbed me or something. Even fat boy was vibing me not to take the bait."

I checked my gun and shoved it into my holster, "And?"

"Well, valet finally brought Tina's car up." Warrick slammed his locker and sat down next to me, "So, I maneuver her around these guys and I put her in her car and I turn my back to them and let them talk this smack as I'm calming Tina down and tell her everything is fine. She drives off and I walk away towards my car. I called Tina later on and I tell her straight up that if she got any problem with me being a cop, she needs to get over it because now I'm packing no matter where we go. That was too close."

We left the locker room and headed upstairs to get our assignments. Catherine met us in the hallway, "Just who I was looking for. Grissom, Greg and Sara are already on call out and I'm on my way out as well. Grissom asked I give you two these." She held out two pieces of paper, "So, I've got an assault at Stripperama and a trash run at Flamingo and Koval. I'm too busy to play favorites, so duke it out."

"Duke it out?" I held up my fists like I was ready to hit Warrick, "Nah. I wouldn't want to take you." I felt around in my pocket until I found a quarter, "Flip for it?"

"Yeah, you better flip that coin."

Warrick shot me the bird as I flipped the coin in the air, "Call it in the air."

"Heads."

I caught it and we both looked at it. It came up heads, "You win."

"Have fun at the trash run. Make sure you shower before you head home. I'm sure Anna would love to get a good smell of you."

"You know, I'd do two out of three, but you got a gambling problem."

"Ass." He gave me the finger again, "Go. Dig in the trash. It's your lucky night."

"No, hey, you know what?" I held up the coin and tossed it at Warrick, "You keep this. It's bad luck."

He started to toss the coin back to me, "You sure you won't need it?"

"Nope. I'm not the one going to a strip club. Anna won't get mad at me if I go on a trash run outside." I started to walk off as Warrick shoved the coin down in his pockets, "Later, man."

" _It was Christmas in Las Vegas when the locals take the town. Theresa hit a streak and laid her waitress apron down. She was playing penny poker over at the old Gold Spike. She's tired of Texas hold 'em, so she switched to let it ride."_

Half an hour later, I was singing along to a song I hadn't heard on the radio in ages when I got to the crime scene. Officer Michaels was watching me drive up and when I got out, I caught the smell of decomp. Michaels obviously smelled it also and had to gag, "Nick."

I put my camera around my neck and got my field kit and started walking towards where he was, "Michaels. What's going on out here?" He was a little pale, "You know you could make some of the DBs in the morgue jealous."

"Been trying not to get sick. An anonymous 911 caller reported body parts in this area. I rolled and found this." He pointed his flashlight down at some intestines in a bloody puddle on the concrete in front of where we were standing, "I'm about to be sick."

"Hmm. Tasty. I prefer my chittlins stump whooped though." Michaels threw up as I put my kit down and snapped several photos from my vantage point. "I was only kidding." I got my gloves on while he was still throwing up beside his car before I went back to processing the scene. Trying to get an overall feel, I got a couple of evidence markers out of my kit as I stood up to continue my overall assessment.

"Have any idea how long it's going to take you to get this stuff out of here? I can't stand the smell."

I took another photo from a different angle but was still about fifteen feet away from the entrails, "Well, I can't move the, uh..." I couldn't think of a way to describe it, "The body? I think?" It technically wasn't a body, but even in the event we worked a scene with body parts, the coroner still had to clear the scene before we could move it. "I guess you could call it that. Until the coroner releases the scene, we can't do anything. It's a busy night and it's probably gonna take a while, man." I moved a foot or so away from my original position so I could take another photo. "I've got a call in though."

"Great." He looked like he was about to get sick again, "Hey, you mind if I step away for a second? I need to get some fresher air before I throw up again."

I had enough of Anna throwing up at home from morning sickness and Michaels revisiting what he had for lunch started to make me queasy. "Uh, yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, take your time." He quickly walked away, leaving me alone with the evidence.

The pavement was wet but I didn't notice any footprints in the mud surrounding the scene. As I started to take overall photos, I thought I heard something moving behind me, but when I turned around, the only person I saw was Officer Michaels, still doubled over behind his car, throwing up, "Wimp." I turned my attention back to the scene as I started to lay out scene markers. On the fifth one, I finally got to the entrails. When I moved in closer to photograph it, something didn't sit right with me. It was almost as if they were posed.

I took more evidence markers out of my kit and started looking around the area. I heard Michaels continue to cough as he threw up again behind his squad car. As I walked around the lot, I found trash, but it might have been evidence and I grabbed another marker and set it down before taking more photos.

With Michaels finally stopping coughing, I looked around the area again from where I was and saw tire tracks on the concrete. Turning to judge the distance between the innards and where I was, I made a quick judgment that these marks could have been from the vehicle that dumped the evidence that was making Michaels revisit what he had for lunch. Playing it safe, I dropped another evidence marker and took more photos.

As I started back towards Michaels, something else caught my eye. I approached and saw it was an evidence bag leaned against a fire hydrant. Looking around for the officer to ask if he bagged it, he was back doubled over, throwing up. Anna was getting sick quite regularly from her morning sickness, but even on her worst days, I had yet to see her throw up as much as he had. Putting my flashlight down, I pulled out a pair of gloves from the pocket of my vest and put them on to pick up the bag with the Styrofoam cup inside.

The rapid footsteps behind me caused me to drop the bag with the cup inside and turn around. The shadowy figure approaching got closer and I froze.

**Catherine**

"Nick is missing. Let's go."

I threw my pen down on my desk and ran after Grissom. He was already halfway down the hallway before I caught up to him, "What?"

"Brass called. The officer assigned to the scene with Nick on Koval said he was there one minute, gone the next. We're not taking any chances. Let's go."

Grissom picked up speed and before we were outside, he and I were both sprinting in the halls at work, shoving people out of our way as we ran.

When we got to the crime scene, it was full of LVPD cars. Grissom and I both got out of his Tahoe and started towards Brass who was giving a uniformed officer the once over, "Think! Did you see anybody else in the area?"

The officer shook his head, "I didn't see anything, sir. I mean, I only took my eyes off him for a couple seconds. The smell. It was horrible. I was throwing up over there."

I followed to where Michaels was pointing while Brass continued yelling, "You're not supposed to take your eyes off him ever."

Leaving Brass and Officer Michaels where they were, Grissom and I passed by the two of them as we made our way to the initial crime scene. "He's been gone maybe twenty five minutes." Brass stood next to me while Grissom took out his flashlight and shined it on the bloody innards on the concrete pavement next to evidence marker that Nick had left out. "He got sick at the scene and said the smell made him vomit. When he looked up, Nick was gone."

Grissom wasn't paying attention. He was looking to the side of the innards and found the tire marks next to another evidence marker. After standing up and giving Brass and me the silent treatment, he continued down the evidence trail, passing more tire marks and several more evidence markers. "This isn't ours." He squatted down next to a small yellow cone. "The markers Nick laid out were red. This is yellow and it's number four. Nick laid out evidence marker four up there." He pointed his flashlight beam up at the evidence marker by tire tracks. I stepped forward and put my bag down and took out a couple of gloves. Grissom got up and moved on down the line that Nick had left.

I got my gloves on and picked up my flashlight to examine Nick's vest. When my light hit it at an angle, I noticed something white. Reaching in my kit for some tweezers, I got it off and saw that it was white fibers, "Grissom! I got some white fibers on Nick's vest." When I held it up for him to see, a faint scent of something caught me, "Alcohol? Something alcoholic?" Being stumped by what the smell was, I put Nick's vest and the fibers into two different bags.

When I signed the tape on the seal for the bags, I looked over and saw Grissom near a fire hydrant. Picking up my field kit after giving the bagged evidence to an officer, I saw him staring at the hydrant, but a bagged Styrofoam cup in an evidence bag caught my eye. He noticed it at the same time I approached and I could tell by his look that he was trying to figure out what it was. "Something's off."

I put my kit down as Grissom takes out a pair of gloves and puts them on, "Why'd you bag that?"

"I didn't."

I knelt down next to Grissom and looked at the bag, "It's the wrong color tape. No initials on the seal. That's not Nick's evidence. He's smarter than this."

"Maybe it's a message?"

"Yeah. But of what."

Grissom got lost in his own thoughts as I started to look around. "I'm gonna go check the dumpster." Leaving him where he was, I left my field kit beside the dumpster and used it as a step to climb inside. It was empty except for a few pieces of paper and some empty cardboard boxes. I snapped pictures of everything before I got out, "Dumpster's clean. No apparent blood or body parts. Couple of boxes inside, but nothing on them. If the kidnapper brought the entrails in a box, he had them wrapped in something and that something isn't in there."

Grissom was pointing to the innards, "Take a look at this. This seems contrived to me. The blood pool is too perfect. There's no splatter. Like somebody placed these entrails and poured the blood around them."

The more I studied the blood pool around the entrails, the more I agreed, "It was a plant. A lure. To grab Nick." I looked over at David who had just arrived on scene, "David, get this stuff to the doc.

He approached slowly, "Look, I'm… I'm really sorry I didn't get here sooner. Maybe if I had ..."

I cut him off, "We're going to get him back, David."

"Catherine?" I looked behind me and saw Ecklie ducking under the crime scene tape and heads over to where we were, "Grissom, Catherine. I want you to know, as far as I'm concerned, lab's only got one case tonight. Same for the rest of the department. I've called in every available body from the other shifts to help."

Grissom looked to where Ecklie had come from and saw more LVPD cars as well as Clark County Sheriff's Office personnel and a few other people from the crime lab's day shift, "Thanks, Conrad."

Warrick arrived at the scene with his siren on and lights on his Tahoe flashing. After getting out of his truck, he lifted the crime scene tape and approached us, "Hey." Snapping on a pair of rubber gloves, he looked around, "What do you need me to do?"

"K9 officers." Ecklie started to retreat to where he came from, "Someone call the K9 officers!"

The officer and the dog arrived a few minutes later and Warrick volunteered to trail them. I followed behind as I watched as the officer held out the bag with Nick's vest in it towards the scent dog, "That's it, boy. Here you go. Here you go." The dog stuck his nose in the bag and started to wag his tail. When he put his nose to the ground, he immediately caught the trail and started to walk around the parking lot, with Warrick and me behind the officer, "That's it. Whatcha got? Here you go."

With us following, the dog made a direct line towards the fire hydrant, but when we got there, the trail must have stopped. The dog whimpered and sat down. The K9 officer looked glum, "He's lost the scent. Might be as far as it goes."

When the dog barked again, I saw Warrick looking at something. When I realized what he was looking at, I saw a large patch of dry concrete next to the hydrant, "Yeah, there was some sort of large vehicle here." He got out a tape measure and measured the width and length of the dry patch of concrete. Leaving the tape out, he grabbed his notebook and opened it. "Cath, you got a pen?" He started to dig in his pocket but before I could bring him mine, he froze, "Oh damn."

"What?" I started to approach him, "What?"

Warrick pulled his hand out of his pocket, "Nick's bad luck coin. We flipped for who got this case."

"Catherine." Grissom was behind me, "Ecklie wants you to go back to the lab and meet with Doc Robbins on the entrails."

"Fine." I left the two of them where they were and broke the speed limit getting back to the lab.

Doc Robbins was already looking at the entrails when I got there, "Catherine. Any word on Nick?"

"No. Nothing yet. Anything on the guts?"

"Well, there are a lot of intestines here, but no appendix, which made sense when I saw this." He used a scalpel to show me what he was talking about, "A cecum."

That meant that they weren't human, "They're dog entrails?"

"Yeah."

"That's not going to help." I turned to leave, "Thanks."

"I'm sorry." I shoved the door open when Doc Robbins called out to me, "Has Nick's family been informed?"

"No, that would be my job." I told him I'd keep him informed about Nick and left to go find Grissom.

He had already started in pulling case files from the archives when I found him, "We need to call Nick's parents and Anna."

"Anna." Grissom's look was solemn, "We need to bring her here just in case. I have no idea why Nick was taken. I don't know if this is a revenge thing or what, but we need to be safe and bring Anna to the lab or to the PD to keep an eye on her. If this is revenge like it was with Nigel Crane, whoever this is will likely be going after both of them together. Catherine, you stay here and run point while I'm gone. I'll go get Anna if you'll call Nick's parents."

I beat him to the door, "No, let me go get Anna. She's pregnant, her husband is missing and no offense, she needs a little more help than you can give her. Emotions really aren't your thing."

"I can deal with her, Catherine. I'm the supervisor. I'll go."

I refused to budge from my position by the door, "No. You'll treat Anna like another victim and she's not. She's family. You may not see it but I do. We both know what will happen when we tell her. Anna will lose it when I tell her what happened to Nick and neither she nor I need you giving her the silent treatment on the way back from their house or treating her like you do victims at crime scenes. You never have been good in situations like this and you know it."

"Fine." Defeated, Grissom started to walk back towards the AV lab, "Just take Mitch or someone with you."

"I'll go." I turned and saw Ecklie standing behind me, "Since I'm the director of the lab, I think it's best if I go, too."

I did not want Ecklie going along with me. Last thing I needed was an audience when I told Anna. This was bad enough having to tell her what happened to Nick on a good day, but the last thing she or I needed was a room full of people to watch her break down and lose it, "Anna doesn't know you that well."

"I know she doesn't know me that well, but I am the lab director, Catherine." Ecklie started walking next to me as we left the lab, "It's my duty. You can do all the talking since you know her better than I do."

I knew better than to argue and given the circumstances, I wasn't in the mood to argue with him over something so trivial, "Fine."

I dreaded this. I didn't have to ask Ecklie how he felt. He dreaded this as well. I knew in my career I had told hundreds of people that their loved ones were dead and though Nick wasn't dead, he was missing and it wasn't any either, especially considering how close we were. We all knew the chances of getting Nick back alive, but for everyone's sake, including Anna's and Nick's parents, we had to remain positive. That was the hard part. We knew the statistics. We knew the odds. We dealt with them every day and today, this statistic and this set of odds was hitting too close to home.

Driving faster than necessary and getting a few comments from Ecklie about my breaking the speed limit in a company vehicle, I made it out to Summerlin and pulled into the driveway. I had Ecklie get out of the truck to open the gate and when he got in after he shut it, I parked behind Anna's truck. I stared at the back of her truck, unwilling to make the first move. Ecklie sighed and opened the door and when the dome light came on, I unbuckled my seatbelt and took a deep breath and prepared myself for what was to come next.

**Anna**

I saw the flash of headlights through the windows and seeing that it was a Tahoe, I moved the cat off my lap so I could get up to greet Nick, happy he found time and was coming by to check on me. Checking the clock above the TV, it was late, but too early for him to be home from work for the night. The baby was not cooperating and I couldn't sleep and had settled in on the couch to try to rest, but it wasn't happening. I pushed myself off of the couch and went to the door, but rather than hearing the key in the lock, I heard knocking, "Nick, did you forget your key again?"

I opened the door and instead of seeing Nick, I saw a grim faced Catherine and Conrad Ecklie standing behind her. I felt a chill run down my spine as I put my hand over my mouth, "No…" I let go of the door and started to back away. My breathing became heavier as I felt my heart rate go up, "God, no."

The two of them stepped inside and Catherine led me to the edge of our coffee table and told me to sit down, "Anna." She looked at me as she knelt down in front of me, "You need to come with us."

"No!" I started crying as I fought to get up, but Catherine held me down, "No! He can't be dead."

"Anna!" Catherine hugged me, "Nick's not dead but I'm afraid I have bad news." She broke the hug so she could look at me. "Earlier tonight at a crime scene, Nick was abducted. That's all we know right now."

I felt the blood drain out of my face, "He what?"

"Abducted." Conrad Ecklie sat down on the edge of the sofa and faced me, "Nick was assigned to a case with a LVPD officer. When the officer got sick at the scene, he turned his head to throw up. When he looked again, Nick was gone. The officer thought Nick was crouched behind a dumpster looking for evidence and didn't think anything of it until he started to look for Nick and didn't see him."

I couldn't process what I was being told, "So you know where he is, right?" I stood up, "He's at the station or at the hospital? How is he?"

"Catherine…" Conrad's face was pleading with Catherine to help him.

"Anna, we don't know where he is." Catherine told me to sit back down again and I felt the gentle pressure of her hands on my shoulders as she pushed me down, "We're working on finding him. We promise you, we will. I need you to come with us though. We don't know who took Nick or why but as protocol, any time an officer is hurt in the line of duty, we bring their family members to the station just in case. We're taking you back to the lab."

I felt a cramp in my back and put my hand on the spot that was hurting, "Catherine, please." I was crying pretty hard and couldn't speak. She helped me up and after she got my phone and keys, she and Conrad helped me outside to the Tahoe. Conrad said he'd sit in the back seat so I could sit in the front and he helped me sit down then he handed me my phone. I stared down at the black screen as Catherine got in, "Nick's parents?"

"They don't know yet. I'll call them when I get back to the lab."

"Here." I handed Catherine my phone, "Their numbers are in here." I kept my eyes closed as we left our house. "Nick…" His name left my lips in such a bone chilling whisper. It was almost as if I was cursed for even mentioning his name, but I couldn't help it. Nick is everything to me, and now my everything was gone. I put my head in my hands and cried the entire ride back to Las Vegas.

**Nick**

My head was throbbing. As I tried to get my hands around in front of me, I couldn't move. It took me a moment to realize that they were bound behind my back. The aching pain of the plastic zip tie cutting into my wrists only added in to the pain my head was giving off. With every beat of my heart, the throbbing in my head plus the aching in my wrists hurt even more.

I started to recognize where I was. The dark, confined space was a car trunk. Resisting the urge to panic, I let my training kick in. Observing what was going on, I started to listen to where we were. I could tell we were on pavement because the ride was smooth. I didn't hear any other noises so I assumed the road we were on was deserted but for this time of night, that wasn't unusual. The car trunk I was in wasn't that small, but for someone my size, it was cramped. I was guessing I was in a mid sized car, maybe a Chevy Impala? I didn't see the mandatory trunk release handle on the inside of the trunk that all new cars were equipped with. Either my kidnapper disabled the fluorescent handle of the release or the car I was in was too old to have one. I tried to kick but my feet were bound. I was hog tied in a trunk. "Damn."

My head hit the top of the trunk lid when the car made a sudden swerve and I heard gravel crunching underneath the tires. I made a mental note that we made a right turn off of a paved road and onto a gravel road. I kept listening for any sounds. I heard nothing but gravel crunching under the car tires.

I felt my gun still in the holster on my side, but with my arms behind my back, I couldn't free myself to get it.

The car came to a stop and I heard the car door open and after a moment, I heard gravel crunching again as someone opened another door and slammed it, but no one came for me. I began to formulate a plan in my head about how I was going to get away. The kidnapper would have to open the trunk. I tried to bring my knees to my chest to kick at the kidnapper as soon as he opened the trunk, but in the small confines of the trunk, I couldn't get anything accomplished. I began to furiously rub my hands against the carpet of the trunk, hoping that I'd give myself a rash and some blood or skin evidence would be left behind. As I waited, I felt the burn on my wrists and knew that I had given myself a blister. I moved down ever so slightly and started to rub my hands against the trunk fabric in two more spaces just to ensure that I was leaving enough trace behind. I had to make sure my team could find out where I was.

Anna. My breath caught. What if he got Anna? The second car door opening…Did my kidnapper have Anna? Was that why he opened the second door? To let her out? I started to panic and my breathing came more quickly when I heard the footsteps approaching the edge of the car trunk. The electronic lock clicked and the trunk lid opened. It was still dark and when it opened all the way, all I could see were trees. Lots of trees. The face of my kidnapper appeared in front of me and as I brought my legs to my chest to kick, he pushed his arms down on my chest and held something over my mouth. I tried to fight, but I couldn't.

**Anna**

"Anna." Grissom put his hand on my arm and pulled me quickly inside the lab. Not even bothering to stop at Judy's desk for a visitor's badge, he brought me through the main door and into his office. He was pulling me so fast, I couldn't keep up and stumbled. Seeing me stumble, another LVPD officer took my other arm and with both of them dragging me, I was lifted off the ground as they rushed me away from the front of the office.

Three LVPD officers were already in the office and moved to a post outside the door as one of them held it open for me. The fourth came in and remained by the door but was looking out the windows. Something was terribly wrong here and I felt like throwing up, "Grissom?"

"Sit."

"I don't want to sit. I want to know where my husband is."

"We don't know." I could feel the room start to spin as Catherine led me to a chair in the office before I fell over. "We're working on that right now. Sara, Greg and Warrick are still at the scene Nick was at where he was taken. I came back to the lab to go over Nick's old cases as well as traffic cam footage from the neighborhood and I sent Catherine to go get you. Did she tell you anything?" I wasn't sure my voice would work right so I just shook my head, "We don't know much about anything. All we know is that Nick was at a scene for body parts in an alley. The officer assigned to him got sick and when he threw up, Nick was taken. Just to be on the safe side, we brought you here to keep an eye on you in case this turns out to be some sort of revenge plot like with…"

"Nigel Crane." I started to shake as another pain hit me in the back. I knew the man was dead and knew he wasn't a threat but his sister wasn't. "Renee…Renee. His sister, Renee something. I don't remember what her last name was. Where is she? Have you made contact with her or figured out where she is?" I knew Nick had told me he had forgiven her for what I had done to Nigel and from what he told me, she was going back home, but it was approaching the anniversary of Nigel's death. "It's close to the anniversary of Nigel's death."

"On it." Catherine stood up and left the room, leaving me alone with Grissom. He told me some more about the case but with little to go on, there wasn't much he could do to calm my fears.

The one thing I liked about Grissom was he didn't feel a need to keep silence from overtaking the room. Catherine came back about half an hour later with my phone and told me Nick's mother wanted to talk to me. I held the phone to my ear as I started crying again, "Mom?"

"Anna, oh thank Heavens. Where are you? Catherine called me and said you were safe but wouldn't tell me anything about you."

I started to sob even harder, "I'm at the crime lab. Catherine came and got me. I don't know how much she's told you about Nick's kidnapping but they don't know who did this or who's behind it so they brought me here just in case."

"Good. Good." I could tell mom was fighting back the fear in her voice, but she was still close to breaking, "I don't want anything to happen to you or my grandson. Bill and I are on the first flight out of Dallas. We're leaving in about an hour but our flight isn't for an hour after that. After we get to the airport, it'll be about a three and a half hour flight. We'll call you when we land. I gave Catherine our flight information. Sweetie, I know it's hard, but Nick will be found alive. He won't leave you or that baby."

"God I hope so." I let out a heavy sob, "Mom, I can't do this without him."

"You won't have to. I've got to go. We're packing now and we'll see you soon. I love you, Anna."

"Love you too, mom." I hit the end button on my phone and shoved it between the couch cushions and cried.

"Grissom, I found this out about Renee." Catherine handed him a printout. "She was killed about a year ago in a tornado in Georgia."

My head shot up, "What?"

"Tornado came through the rural area where she lived." She handed me the news article, "Her whole family was killed when the entire town they lived in was basically wiped off the map by an EF4 tornado. She's not behind this. That was a lead we were exploring, but now, we don't know anything."

"Get your hands off of me!" There was a scuffle from the hallway, "Get your hands off me. Someone help me."

"Security!"

Two different voices were going at it in the hallway. "Anna, stay with Catherine." Grissom got up and left the room, leaving me in his office. While we waited, I saw Sara and Greg walk by to one of the labs in the back. Catherine told me to stay put as well while she went out into the hallway to see what was going on.

Getting bored with just sitting still, I opened the door to Grissom's office and looked out in the hallway. The four officers had left to help with the scuffle up front. David Hodges was in the reception area with Grissom and Warrick and they were arguing with someone. I couldn't tell what was going on from my vantage point, but I inched closer to the door.

"Hodges, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

He slipped on a pair of rubber gloves and held up a brown bubble mailer envelope, "Gilbert Grissom, LVPD regarding Stokes."

I started to cry, "Jesus, no."

Grissom heard me and turned around, "Anna, get back in the office."

"No!" I shook my head, "No! What is it? What do you have?"

David handed him a pair of gloves and he put them on and started to feel the envelope, "There's something in here, but I don't know what it is." He walked by me and as he walked by Catherine, she started to follow him, "No. Let me. Anna, stay back."

David, Catherine, Greg, Warrick, Sara and I stayed in the hallway. Grissom went into the AV lab and sat down and with his back to us, he opened the small envelope. He picked it up and shook something out, but I couldn't tell what it was from my viewpoint. He got up only to return a moment later with a laptop and hooked something up to it. I watched as he dug around in one of the desks until he produced a tape recorder as Warrick opened the door slightly and went in. When Grissom didn't say anything, the rest of us came in. Catherine stood in front of me to shield me from whatever it was on the computer screen. As Grissom hit the button the tape recorder, the song "Outside Chance" by The Turtles started playing.

A PowerPoint presentation started on the laptop and as Catherine stepped forward, I saw that Grissom had put a small flash drive in the side of the computer. I couldn't tell from where I was what it said, but I did manage to catch part of the message.

' _One million dollars or the CSI dies'._ The screen went white and another message popped up, ' _You can only "WATCH."'_

Grissom hit the button on the page and when he did, a shot of Nick appeared. He winced when the bright lights hit him and started to fight wherever he was. "Oh, shit." Catherine looked at Grissom, "He's buried underground."

"Jesus, no!" Seeing that, another wave of nausea hit me. This one was so hard that I found the nearest trash can and threw up. This can't be happening to me. To us. Jesus, why us? "Nick…Oh, God. Nick."

**A/N: Reviews go here. :)**


	39. Danger Zone

**I know Catherine wasn't with Grissom when he met Gordon, but for my story, she was since I'm switching POVs and have elected to use her POV to tell part of the story.**

**Shoutout to all my new readers and the ones who have added this story to their alerts and favorites and especially to the readers who continue to review every chapter. Thank you**

**Chapter 39 – Danger Zone**

**Anna**

"Son of a bitch. He's screwing with us." Catherine knocked a stapler and something else off of the desk. The stapler landed just a few inches away from me. "Why?"

I started to heave again and Grissom got up so fast that he knocked the chair over that he was in. I felt someone's hands on my back as I retched into the garbage can. "Anna, you need to sit."

I shook my head as I continued to heave into the garbage can. I felt my knees giving out under me and fell the rest of the way to the floor, "Jesus, no. No." I finally felt my stomach start to settle down, only to have another sharp pain in my back, "Damn it, no."

Warrick and Catherine managed to pull me up and brought me to sofa in the corner of the room, away from the computer with Nick's image on it. Greg angled the laptop around to where I couldn't see it as Catherine sat on one side of me, further blocking my view.

"Aggie!"

"Bryan!" I got up, knowing who that voice belonged to. I left everyone in the room and made a turn down the hallway and saw Bryan looking for me as I started to panic again, "Oh, God. Bryan." I was fighting back the tears so hard when I saw Bryan that I was having problems breathing.

"Stop!" A LVPD officer snagged him by the shoulder and threw him against the wall. Before I knew it, four more officers had tackled him on the hallway floor.

"Let him go!" I started towards Bryan, but another LVPD officer held me back, "Damn it, let me go!"

"It's okay." Catherine was holding the door open with one hand, "Mitch! He's okay. Let him up."

After the cops let him up, Catherine disappeared back into the office and Bryan made short work of the distance between us as he crashed into me and picked me up, "Jesus Christ on a cracker." He set me down on the ground and I looked up at him, but no words would come through my tears, "Catherine called me a little bit ago, but we were on a run and I couldn't get to my phone. She left me a voice mail and asked me to call her back ASAP. I just did and when she told me what happened, I called in for the rest of the night at work and came straight over." After I tried to speak again but couldn't, Bryan looked at me funny, "Are you in labor?"

"No…" At least I hoped I wasn't. I was struggling to catch my breath through my pain, "My back just hurts. It's just stress."

"Are you sure?" He started to lead me back towards the office I was in earlier, "Your back pains. What do they feel like?"

I just shook my head as I dried my face on my shirt, "I don't know. I want Nick. I want my husband."

Leading me back into the room, Bryan sat down next to me and I leaned in on him as he did his best to comfort me, "I know, I know. They'll find him. I know they will."

The next three hours were spent in morose solitude as we tried to get any hints from the tape and the flash drive that was mailed to Grissom. When Mandy said there were no fingerprints on the drive or the tape and the only prints on the envelope were the courier's, we were at another dead end. I was beginning to panic, but Bryan was there to keep me company, calming me as I cried and soaked his work shirt all the way through. He knew me well enough to know not to give me the same canned answers that everyone else was giving me when I asked for updates.

Warrick had volunteered to keep an eye on Nick through the website on the flash drive. I stayed where I was with Bryan but every now and again, the reflection in the window behind Warrick would show that computer screen would go white and he'd click that button again. The pale green light inside the coffin would dim as the bright light came on and though I couldn't see from my angle, Warrick was watching Nick's every move. "I want to see."

Bryan and Warrick shared a skeptical look they thought went unnoticed by me, "Aggs, you can't. I'm worried about you and the baby. Too much stress will send you into premature labor. It's too early for Thing to be born and chances are he wouldn't make it."

"I'm fine. I want to see my husband." I started to get up, but Bryan kept hold of one of my wrists. With a quick spin under his arm, he let me go and I was at Warrick's side before he could react. Bryan muttered something about not knowing how fast a pregnant woman could move, but I ignored him. He tried once again to stand in front of me, obstructing my view but I shoved him out of the way and held on to the table, determined not to move until I saw Nicky was still alive.

The screen went white again with the wording ' _You can only "Watch"'_ on the screen a moment later. When Warrick clicked it, Nick appeared again, squinting into the light. "We've determined it's a live feed and that it's not a prerecording. He keeps moving around in different ways when we watch, so there's no way it's a recorded loop of video. Was this what he was wearing when he left?"

I noticed the dark shirt Nick had on, "Yeah. He had that on, jeans and had his vest in his hand when he left. Where's his vest?"

"Cath found it at the scene with Nick's camera and field kit. The kidnapper took it off to leave us a clue."

Bryan was standing behind me and as I went to lean back against him, he held on to my left hand with his, letting it hang at my side as we watched Nick.

**Nick**

I could taste the salty bitterness of blood. My senses were numb but I recognized blood. I still didn't realize what had happened to me as my hand traveled absentmindedly to my forehead as I struggled to keep my eyes open.

I raised my head and with a sickening thud, my forehead and nose hit the top of something hard. I knew by the pain shooting though my face that I had just broken my nose and the warm liquid pouring down my face was even more blood. "God damn it, son of a bitch!" It was then that I realized I was buried alive. The confined space I was in was barely big enough for me to lie flat, but other than that, I had no room. Thrashing inside the enclosed space did nothing. I was still trapped.

Stars from the pain were whirling round and round in my vision, caught in an accelerating tornado. I was in pain from breaking my nose on the top of the box and thrashing around didn't help me much either. I tried squeezing my eyes shut, but the spinning stars just got worse. Nausea was beginning to set in and before I knew it, I threw up. I hadn't had lunch yet so there wasn't that much to come up, but the enclosed space didn't help the smell or my nausea.

_Push on the lid, dumbass. You need to get the hell out of here!_

My brain was screaming at me to try something to get out of here. I tried to push up on the box, but I couldn't get the lid to move. I started to violently thrash around, kicking and hitting everything but all that resulted in was two sore fists and not much else. Feeling around inside to get a better idea of where I was and what was going on, I felt something plastic under my right hand. Picking it up, I saw that I was a couple of unsnapped glow sticks, just like the one on my chest. On my other side, the cold metal of my service weapon was lying underneath my right hip. I pulled my gun out and after dropping the magazine, saw that I still had rounds in it. It took a moment to realize why the kidnapper left me with my gun. He intended on me killing myself. My stomach dropped and I felt myself panicking again.

_Find something. Find anything to get you out of here! Think about Anna!_

Anna. With that, I started reaching blindly beside me and I pushed against something else. With the glow stick in one hand, I grabbed onto the foreign object and when I pulled it into my line of sight, it was a small tape recorder. Fumbling with the buttons, I hit the play button and listened as a few moments of silence, a chilling voice spoke, _"_ _Hi, CSI guy. You wondering why you're here? Because you followed the evidence. Because that's what CSIs do. So breathe quick, breathe slow, put your gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. Any way you like, you're going to die here."_

My breathing became quick. I let the tape recorder slide out of my hand and listened as it hit the bottom of the plastic box. Letting out an ear piercing scream, I started to thrash around once again, doing my best to break free of my prison.

Another voice caught my attention on the tape, " _Okay?"_

" _Perfect."_

I rewound the tape and listened again to the voice. It was two separate voices. The first voice, the voice of my kidnapper said the first line and perfect, but a different voice said okay. I didn't recognize that one. I kept replaying that tape over and over again, trying to think if I recognized either voices, but I was coming up blank.

Without warning, a bright light switched on at my feet. The breeze coming through the vent next to my right shoulder stopped. I tapped on the vent, but it didn't start back up again. Shielding my eyes from the bright light, I looked down. Between my dirty work boots, a light was centered in the middle of the coffin. I tried putting my feet in front of it to block the light, but there wasn't anything I could do about it. Kicking at it did no help. I couldn't get any leverage in the box to kick it out. The light was recessed in to the side of the box and the best I could do was get a few scuff marks on the plastic.

After a few minutes, the light switched off and the fan started back up again, "Thank God." I leaned my face closer to the breeze. I wasn't sure how long I had been down here, but it was already getting hot. The breeze from the fan was all I had in the box, providing air. I started yelling through the vent, but I had no idea where I was or if anyone could hear me.

**Catherine**

Nick had been missing for almost nine hours by now. After making a painful call to his parents earlier using Anna's phone, they hired a charter plane to bring them straight to Las Vegas. Watching them through the glass in the door, I didn't want to go in but I took a deep breath and shoved the door open.

"Judge Stokes, Mrs. Stokes?" I saw Anna talking to Bryan and knew that I only had a small window of opportunity to speak to them without her. Mrs. Stokes asked to see Anna as soon as they got to the lab and didn't want to leave her daughter-in-law's side. Greg brought Nick's parents back to where Anna was and had checked in on her until I got him to pull them out, saying I needed them for visitors' badges. I didn't want Anna to hear what I was about to say, "May I?"

"Catherine." Mrs. Stokes approached me as her husband followed behind, keeping an eye on Anna, "Do you have anything on where my son is?"

I shook my head as I moved to the hallway and away from where Anna and Bryan were and into the break room where Gil was waiting on us, "No, I'm afraid I don't."

"Your Honor. Mrs. Stokes. I'm, uh, sorry that we're meeting again under these circumstances." Gil held his hand out, "I just wish we were meeting again under better circumstances."

Judge Stokes shook Gil's hand, "Have you been able to make contact with the animals who took my son? What do they want?"

Gil shut the door to the break room to give us some privacy as I sat down, "No, we haven't yet, but they should be contacting us in roughly two hours concerning the ransom."

Nick's father slid an envelope across the table, "We were able to rustle up twenty thousand in cash. Our bank's prepared to wire another hundred thousand. Now, we can sell the cars. We can hock the ranch and we can make the number, but it's gonna take at least another day."

Gil looked down at the envelope, "Judge Stokes…"

"Can we give them the money we have now so we can try to buy more time?" Nick's mother held up the envelope with the money in it, "Please. We've got to do something. This is our son."

I looked at Gil and I knew by the look on his face what he was about to say, "I don't think that will help."

"There's got to be something we can do. We've entering a whole new playing field, my friend. I hope you know the rules and we will stop at nothing to get him back." Judge Stokes was angry, but he was doing his best to keep his composure, "Our son is missing. His mother and I have got to be able to do something."

"Your Honor, you've already done it by coming here, by showing your support. Anna needs you. She's in the AV lab I think and she's not doing well." I looked over my shoulder and saw Bryan still hugging Anna, "She needs you."

"We'll speak to Anna in a moment and check on her again, but do realize that we're not here to show support for Nicholas. We're here to get our son home to his wife and baby where he belongs. No matter what, Bill and I will do everything we can to get him back." Mrs. Stokes looked on the verge of tears, but she kept her voice even and steady, "Even if we have to do it ourselves. Do you have any idea who has Nicholas?"

Gil closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "We're not sure who has your son or why."

Judge Stokes's hand slammed to the table, "Well, what the hell do you know?"

"Very little."

"Let's just cut to the gist. What proof do you have that my boy's still alive?"

"We have a feed." I didn't really want them to see Nick like this, but I knew they weren't giving me much choice, "The kidnapper sent us a thumb drive with a website on it. We have a live feed into the coffin where Nick is."

Mrs. Stokes started to cry and Judge Stokes put his arm across the back of her chair, "I want to see my son."

Gil got up and took Judge Stokes to the lab where the feed was while I stayed with Nick's mother and watched silently as she held her head in her hands and cried.

**Anna**

I had given up on watching Nick. I couldn't tolerate looking at him for very long. It killed me inside to see him going through this. Bryan called in to work and was told to stay with me as long as necessary. I knew Nick wouldn't want me to be alone anyway. Bryan told Cathy where he'd be and though she couldn't get off work, she said she'd be by the lab as soon as she could.

Nearly ten hours had passed by now. Ten long hours had slowly and very painfully ticked by with no real leads. Mom and dad had been in and out all night long, checking in and comforting me. Grissom and Catherine were going over the video evidence from the traffic cameras while Greg and Sara were going over what Nick had collected at the scene of the abduction. Warrick was working with Archie on trying to trace the origin of the phone call that led Nick to that scene. Any time I asked, I got simple answers.  _'We're trying'_ or ' _As soon as we know something, you'll know something.'_  It was no console to me as I wept silently in the room.

Bryan was by my side the entire time. Not wanting to leave me alone for a moment, he even escorted me to the women's bathroom so I could throw up again. The pains in my back had all but stopped and after being forced to drink several glasses of water and one glass of tea to keep from dehydrating, my bathroom trips were frequent.

On my last trip, with Bryan walking beside me, Captain Brass and another officer rushed past me. I stood to one side with Bryan in front of me, being protective. As they passed, Grissom came by with Ecklie and though I didn't follow them, I did hear something about a lead, "Grissom? Mr. Ecklie?"

"Anna." Grissom told Ecklie that he'd be with me and to follow up on Brass's lead, "We may have something. The courier that Brass was interviewing gave up an address on Viking Circle in Vegas. That's where he picked up the envelope with the flash drive and tape. When we looked, we couldn't find anything off hand that led us to believe it had anything to do with Nick, but Brass is going with SWAT to see what they can." He started to walk off and almost as an afterthought, he turned around, "Anything I can do for you? Bring you?"

"My husband." My voice was barely above a whisper as Bryan pulled me closer to him when a dozen SWAT officers ran down the hallway, following Captain Brass and Grissom. The pain in my back hit again, but with Bryan hugging me as tightly as he was, I wasn't certain what it was from.

We went back to the now empty office that had been my home away from home. Bryan sat on the couch and put a pillow in his lap and I went to lay back, my head on the pillow. Closing my eyes, I kept seeing Nick in that box, trapped like a wild animal. I couldn't sleep and Bryan knew this. He started to gently run his fingers through my hair, trying to calm me down, but it was futile effort.  _'_ _I don't know if you can see the changes that have come over me."_  Bryan stopped singing when I smiled through my tears, "Thought you'd like it as long as you can tolerate my singing voice. Feel free to jump in any time." I didn't say anything, so he continued,  _"In these last few days I've been afraid that I might drift away. I've been telling old stories, singing songs that make me think about where I've come from."_

I took over for Bryan, _"That's the reason why I seem so far away today."_ I couldn't finish any more than that before my voice broke. "I want Nicky."

Catherine came in and saw me lying down. I started to sit up, but she stopped me, "I'll be back in a little bit. Anna," She knelt down in front of me and put one of her hands on my stomach, "I promise you this. We'll bring Nick back to you and this baby."

Without saying another word, she quietly left the room. I looked over in time to see the door to the AV lab shut behind her.

**Nick**

I wish I knew how long I had been down here for sure. I had been keeping track on my watch and since I woke up, it had been about seven hours. I don't know how long I was unconscious, but whatever he used on me left a lingering effect on me. I felt drunk; almost queasy. The pain from my broken nose and the claustrophobia weren't helping much either.

"Anna." I closed my eyes and tried to remember anything but the pain I was in, "Anna…"

_"Oh my…"_

_"Anna? Honey?"_

_"It's pink." Anna held the stick out towards me as she smiled, "Nicky, it's pink. I can't believe it. It's pink."_

_"Pink?" I could barely speak. I knew what it meant but my mind wasn't processing what was going on, "And that means?"_

_"What do you think it means?" Anna started to smile as she put her arms around my waist, "I'm pregnant. We're gonna have a baby."_

_I had to sit down. With my arm stretched behind me, I felt around until I found the edge of the bed and sat on it, "A baby? So it's…and you're…we're…oh…Wow."_

"A baby. I remember that day." I smiled through the pain of my broken nose from where my forehead hit the top of the Plexiglas. Between that and the throbbing on my forehead from hitting the box, I wasn't sure how much longer I could last. Remembering Anna helped numb the pain, if only slightly, "You were so beautiful that day. I hadn't seen you happier until that moment."

As I tried to keep my mind focused on anything but the pain, I kept my mind on Anna as I let my mind wander again.

_"Mom?"_

_"Nicholas! How are you?"_

_"I didn't call too late did I? Anna and I have something we wanted to tell you." After turning on the speaker, I put the phone down on the bed so Anna could hear what was going on as she put her arms around my neck and kissed me, just behind my ear. "She's here with me."_

_"Anna, how are you?"_

_Anna smiled at me as she sat back down on the bed, "I'm fine, mom. Can you get dad near the phone as well?"_

_"Sure." We listened as my mother called my father to the phone, "Nicholas and Anna have something they want to tell us." As soon as he go to the phone, my mother turned the speaker on their phone on so my father could hear, "What is it, Nicholas?"_

_I looked at Anna, "Should you?"_

_She shook her head, "No, this is your family. You do it."_

_My father cleared his throat, "Do what? Nicholas, what is going on? You're scaring your mother."_

_"Mom, I'm fine. Anna's fine. We were deciding on who should be the one to tell you that Anna is pregnant." My mother gasped and my father didn't say anything, "Mom? Dad?"_

_"Nicholas! It's about time." My mother was tearing up as she spoke, "I'm so happy for you both. How far along? What about names? Anna, how are you feeling?"_

"Shock." Anna's description stuck with me, even months later, "That was an understatement for us both. I don't know who was more shocked, me or you." Through my tears, I was slowly beginning to realize I was never getting out of this box alive. I was never going to see Anna again. I was never going to see our baby. "I'm dead." When the light came on again, I began to thrash around inside the coffin I was in, but it didn't help. I was still trapped. I was still running out of oxygen and I was still dying as I started to scream. "Anna, help me. Please, help me. I don't want to die."

**Warrick**

The screen went white. I hit the button on the computer and watched as the light switched back on and Nick squinted into the light. He started to thrash around the box and he looked pissed. I knew the light was blinding him, but it was the only link we had to him.

"Rick, I'll be right back. Keep an eye on Anna?" I turned in my chair to see Catherine. She had the door to the AV lab propped open with her foot, "I have to do something. Anna's in the office next to Hodges's lab."

"Yeah." She left and I turned my attention back to Nick. He had become still and was chewing something. I watched as he stuck something in his ears and was horrified when he picked up his gun and aimed it at his chin, "Nick. What the hell are you doing?"

He moved the gun closer to him and looked at the end of the barrel, "Nick! Stop. Nick!" He couldn't hear me. It was useless for me to argue with an image on the monitor but I was scared about what Nick was about to do, "Nick. Don't. Man, put the gun down. Put it down!" I heard the door open behind me, but didn't pay any attention. "Nick, stop!" He aimed the gun at his feet and pulled the trigger, "God damn it, no!"

Anna screamed. "Nicky!" She ran to the edge of the desk with her friend right behind her. As she started to panic, I was angry at myself for making sure she couldn't see this, but I was even more livid with Nick for killing himself on the feed we were watching. He had to know that the light meant someone was watching him and how could he take that chance of Anna or anyone he loved seeing him die? Without warning, the screen went blank, "God damn it." Nick had killed himself. I felt my heart drop as I felt around behind me for the chair. I had to sit down before my legs gave out.

I turned around to console Anna, but her friend was already hugging her. He had her turned around and her face was against his chest. While Anna was crying into his chest, he had his eyes on the monitor we were watching. "What the hell…"

I looked over my shoulder and saw a green glow coming from the feed, "Nick?"

"What?" Anna looked up, "Nicky?"

"Oh my God. Nick!" For the first time tonight, I felt a sense of relief and started to laugh, "Damn it. Nick. You had us terrified." I put my hands on the laptop and shook it in frustration. Nick had shot the light out in the coffin. I couldn't figure out what he was doing until he moved the glow stick up on top of his chest and I could see he had his head turned to the right and his face was close to the side of the box, "It's a fan."

"The what?"

I looked at Bryan, "The fan. He has to have some sort of fan or air supply in the box." It was all making sense now. Every time we clicked that button, the light came on and the fan went off. "That's why he was so pissed. The fan and the light were connected. Every time we clicked that damn button, the air supply shut off. He shot out the light to keep the fan on."

"At least he's keeping it together." I heard the door shut behind me and watched as Grissom moved in front of Anna and Bryan and stood between them and the monitor, "He shot the light?"

"Yeah."

"Anna, you need to go lie down." Grissom started to pull Anna toward the door but she shook out of his grasp and remained steadfast in front of the monitor, "Anna, please."

"Come on, Aggs." Bryan took a step back and tried to get Anna to go with him, "Lie down."

"No!" She started to tear up again as she swatted at her friend's efforts to get her to go with him.

"Aggie, come on. There's nothing you can do here." I diverted my gaze back to the screen to keep from having to look at Anna's friend dragging her away from her husband as she cried. I felt guilty enough as it was. That stupid coin toss earlier in the day put Nick in this situation and not me. As guilty as it made me feel, I felt a sense of relief wash over me and thanked God it was Nick and not me. I wouldn't have been able to survive this long buried underground. I would have killed myself by now. Nick had Anna and the baby to live for. I had my friends but that was about it.

"Come on." I left my post at the laptop to walk Anna and Bryan back to the break room, "You need to eat something."

With Bryan dragging Anna, I led the way to the room. Passing Undersheriff McKeen and Ecklie, they stopped talking as we passed. I guessed that they were talking about Nick and when they saw Anna coming, they shut up for her sake.

I found a bottle of water and an apple in the back of the refrigerator and handed both to Bryan. Anna was pale as she leaned against the doorframe of the break room but didn't say anything to either of us when Bryan tried to get her to eat the apple. He begged her to eat but all she did was lean forward and rest her head on his chest. Giving up, he finally convinced her to sit down and at least hold the bottle of water and the apple. It was a small start.

One of the officers opened the door to resume his post just inside the office and when he did, we caught part of the conversation from the hallway, "I'll take the heat." Ecklie was out in the hallway still with McKeen, "We have to do something."

"You want to do something for your people? Get 'em ready for a funeral."

"A what?" Anna dropped the bottle of water, causing it to spill all over the floor. "Funeral?" She walked slowly towards McKeen and Ecklie, "You bastard." She threw the apple at Ecklie, hitting him in the head, as she took out her frustrations on McKeen, "You better not be talking about Nick!"

Bryan pulled her off of McKeen who took a step back but he didn't have a good grip on Anna and when she got away from him, she attacked McKeen again, wailing him with her hands. Ecklie stood between Anna and McKeen but all that accomplished was him getting hit in the face by a wild slap. With him holding onto his cheek, he took a step back and Anna started in on McKeen again. "Aggie, stop." Bryan tried to reach for Anna but he missed as she continued to try to hit him.

I intervened and managed to pull her off of McKeen before she got arrested, "Anna!" I made sure I had her attention, "Don't listen to them. We will get Nick back." Throwing an evil glare at McKeen for making such a remark, I tried to reassure her, "We will get Nick back. I promise you."

McKeen tried to say something but I told him now wasn't the time. He apologized for making the remark he did before he and Ecklie left, leaving Anna sobbing once again because of the remarks made.

**Catherine**

The message had appeared on screen a second time,  _"ONE MILLION DOLLARS IN 12 HOURS OR THE CSI DIES. DROP OFF INSTRUCTIONS TO FOLLOW."_  When we confronted Ecklie about having the city help us with the ransom, he said he'd ask. I knew it was a long shot and when he came back with the news, I knew I had to do something. After telling Anna I'd get her husband back one way or another, I left the lab on a mission. I knew just where I had to go.

I flew over the speed bumps in the Tangiers parking lot. Not caring if I parked illegally, I left my truck at the main entrance to the casino. When a valet yelled at me that I couldn't park there, I snapped back that I was Sam Braun's daughter and I could park anywhere I damn well pleased. The valet took a step back and told me he'd make sure no one towed my truck.

I hit the button on the elevator and took it up to the second floor to the restaurant where they told me Sam was. When the doors opened, my father was in the corner with two other men plus a younger woman,  **"** Sam."

"I'm sorry, honey." The woman sitting next to him was looking directly at me, "He's already got a date."

"I'm not here for a date."

Sam stood up, "That's my daughter. Muggs, sit with us. We're ordering dinner."

"I need to speak to you." I turned to leave, "Alone."

I heard Sam get up to follow me to the opposite side of the room, away from everyone, "I need your help."

"Anything."

"One of my guys is in trouble. He's been kidnapped. I need a million dollars in cash. Large bills and I need it now."

Sam looked skeptical, "And let me guess...The department won't pay the ransom?"

"No. They won't. His family has some of it, but not all of it. I need help."

"So you want me to pay it, why? Why should I?"

"I don't know?" I was livid Sam was asking me this, "Considering the problems that you've had with the law, you could use some good publicity. Considering the fact that he's got a pregnant wife at the lab about to go into premature labor because her husband is buried alive underground and we have no idea where he is or if we can get him in time? Considering fact that it's the right thing to do."

Sam took another step back when the waitress came by with their order, "Do I look like a man that needs publicity? If you're coming to me like a cop with a tin cup in your hand, the answer is no."

I began to see red. Sam had the money. He had more than enough money to help me, but now he was telling me no, "I'm not here as a cop."

"Then ask me like you were my daughter."

An hour later, I was leaving with a leather bag with the million dollar ransom in it. Sam even insisted on two of his security escorts follow me to the lab to make sure I got inside okay.

I got the leather bag out of the front seat of my Tahoe and started inside, with the two security officers walking with me until I got to the front of the lab. Since Ecklie told us the city refused to come up with the money, I took it into my own hands. I knew that between Nick's parents and Anna, there was no way they could come up with the money in time, even if every member of the team chipped in and sold everything we had, we'd never get the million dollars before the deadline.

Shoving the door open to Gil's office, he had his head down, buried in case folders. "Here." I dumped the leather bag on his desk, "One million dollars. Now let's go get Nick."

"Catherine." He started to get up, "We can't use this. I know where it came from and the answer is no."

"Do you want to explain to the pregnant lady in Archie's office why we can't go get her husband? Do you want to tell her that since Ecklie said the undersheriff won't pony up the dough, her husband has to die? Do you want to tell her that we have the million dollars but because of bureaucratic bullshit red tape on how I got it we had to let her husband die and she has to be a widow and raise that baby on her own?" He didn't answer and my blood was boiling hot, "We needed a million dollars. I got a million dollars. Now if you won't meet that man to pay him off so we can get Nick back safely, I will." I started to pick the bag up and Gil didn't stop me, "To hell with you. You can tell Nick's family what I did. Wish me luck."

"Wait." Gil tossed his reading glasses on his desk, "I'll go." He stopped me at the door, "If anyone asks, this was an anonymous donor who responded to the press conference that Ecklie and McKeen set up while you were gone. They felt sorry for Anna and donated the money. Got it?"

"Fine and we'll go together. I made a promise to Anna that I'd get Nick back. I intend to honor my promise." I put the strap of the bag over my shoulders and led the way outside.

Gil drove to the meeting place. When we made the last turn off, it led to an abandoned farm. He and I got out and started to walk slowly up towards the door on the side of the barn we were told to go to. Remembering the case from a few years ago with the man who cut off his mistress's finger where I wound up getting kidnapped also, I was dragging my feet in the dirt to leave behind a trail in case something happened to us. I didn't have much in my pockets, but I managed to drop my ATM card as well as some lip gloss, just in case. Looking around, the place was abandoned and had been for quite some time. The grass was dead and the remaining buildings were dilapidated and beyond repair from years of neglect and Nevada weather. I wasn't sure the barn we were heading to was safe enough for anything, let alone a meeting but it was where we were told to go.

Gil opened the door and stepped in and after motioning for me to come in, he helped me up the steps. The bag with the money in it was hanging from the shoulder strap over my left shoulder and was beginning to feel like it was filled with anvils and not hundred dollar bills.

"You're here." The figure at the opposite end of the barn was masked in darkness. I didn't recognize his voice and judging by the bewildered expression on Gil's face, he didn't either. "You know, I was under the impression that it was against departmental policy to negotiate with terrorists."

"Are you a terrorist?"

"Depends." He turned his flashlight on and aimed it at our direction, "Are you terrified of me?"

"We just want our guy back." I dropped the leather bag with the money on the dusty barn floor, "We brought your money. Where is Nick? He's got a family waiting on him."

The man turned his flashlight off, "A family?"

"Yeah. A family."

"Tell me about them."

Gil was annoyed, "Look, I really don't want to talk to you. Where is my guy?"

"Oh, so he's 'your guy,' huh?"

"Yeah." I kicked the bag in front of me, "He is our guy. Now where is he? We brought your million dollars. Where is Nick?"

"Are you close with Nick? What does his family think when they look at him, buried alive, knowing there isn't one thing they can do to help him?"

I started to charge at the man, but Gil held me back, "That's none of your business."

"So." The man turned the light back on and aimed it at the bag at my feet, "That's the bag with my money? You're telling me there's a million dollars in here."

Gil pulled the bag over in front of him, "Yes."

"Along with some cute little booby traps? Which is it? A tracer? A dye pack?"

"Normally, you'd be 100% right, but this time, you're 100% wrong."

"We want Nick back, no tricks. We have the money." I started to slide the bag towards the other end of the barn but Gil stopped me, "Where's Nick?"

"Slide it over here." Gil kicked the bag and it stopped just short of the kidnapper's feet. He unzipped it and looked inside, "Nice."

"You've got the money." Gil was getting angry, "Where's Nick? Where's our guy?"

"What does Nick Stokes mean to you? How do you feel when you see him in that coffin? Does your soul die every time you push that button? How do you feel, knowing that there's nothing you can do to get him out of that hell?" I looked at Grissom. He didn't answer. When he didn't, the kidnapper continued, "Helpless? Useless? Impotent? Good. Welcome to my world." He opened his jacket and I took a step back when I saw the explosives strapped to his chest, "You might want to follow that pretty lady's lead."

I pulled Gil back as the man took one last look around and hit the button. Because of the explosion, I was thrown back against a Ford Expedition in the corner of the barn. Gil wound up a few feet away from me on top of a dead dog. The money was floating back down to the ground; some of it on fire. "Oh, no." I stood up, "No! You bastard!" I threw a rock at the area where he had stood, "You unimaginable bastard! Where the hell is Nick?"

Gil called the rest of the team to find out what they could. I was dreading going back to the lab. I told Anna when we left that we'd have something, but right now, all we had was pink rain all around the barn.

When we called in to Brass to have the rest of the CSIs meet us here, we explained what had happened but asked that they keep it off the radio for now. When he got here, Brass called the paramedics and made us both wait outside to be checked since we were so close to the blast. I checked out fine and as I was waiting on Gil to be checked out, the rest of the team arrived at the scene. "Pupils are even." The paramedic wrote something down and turned his attention to his partner while I kept an eye on Gil. "How are you feeling?"

"He blew himself up and left us with nothing." Gil looked like he was about to go into shock, "Now we have nothing."

"We'll find him." I was beginning to lose hope that we'd find him alive. Eventually, we'd figure out where he was buried if we had enough time. Checking my watch, we had less than three hours to go until that timer hit zero hour and time was the one thing Nick didn't have.

**Anna**

Mom and dad had just left to go find Ecklie for an update when I saw Catherine hesitating outside the office door, "Catherine?" I didn't know she was back from meeting that man with Grissom and the ransom money, "Anything?"

She pulled a chair over towards me, "You need to sit down."

"I'm fine. I don't want to sit."

"Anna?"

I looked up and saw Grissom coming in the room, "Yeah?"

He was stumbling with his words, "I…um…uh, God…"

I shook my head. I knew what was coming, "No…" I put my hands across my mouth as I shook my head. As I got up, I started to back away from Catherine and Grissom with my left hand in front of me. I was trying to keep them both away from me. Bryan tried to approach me, but I shoved him away from me as I continued to back up. If they didn't touch me, then they couldn't tell me that Nick was dead, "No, no, you're wrong. Nick promised me…" I stared at Grissom for a moment before I turned and headed toward the door, but instead of leaving, I reached out and slowly closed it behind me, leaving the wall between the three of us.

I didn't want to hear any more of what they were trying to tell me. Against my better judgment, I turned back around to find Grissom and Bryan eyeing me through the small window in the door. I held my hand up to keep Grissom from coming after me before I left and sat down in one of the hard, plastic chairs in the hall. Bryan thought I meant everyone but him and before I could argue, he was right beside me. "He can't be. Oh, God, no. No, no. Not my Nicky."

"Anna, God, no. No, not that." Grissom found me in the hallway and way and sat down next to me as Bryan sat down on the other side, "We don't know anything about Nick. The man Catherine and I were going to meet? He committed suicide after we gave him the money. He wouldn't tell him where Nick was."

"So, what's that mean?" I moved away from Bryan and stood up, "Now what? Interrogate him, right? Get him to tell you where Nicky is?"

Catherine pulled me into the office I was in earlier to get me out of the hallway, "Anna, he's dead. The man who wanted the ransom is dead. We don't know where Nick is. The man is dead and we can't interrogate him. We still don't know where Nick is." She took one of my hands in hers, "I promise you. We will get Nick back."

As I started to sit down in the chair again, I doubled over in pain, "Oh, no. No, no, no. God, no."

I felt the pain from my midsection as Bryan noticed the look on my face, "A contraction? Anna, are you having contractions?"

"Yes." I started to shake my head as I kept a death grip on the arm of the chair, "I don't know." Crying out in pain again, I fell off of the chair and onto the floor, "Dear God, no. No, no. Oh, God no."

"Somebody call 911!" Catherine yelled at an officer who was standing beside Greg. Bryan sat down next to me as I looked up to see Greg yelling down the hallway, repeating Catherine's orders, but I couldn't see through my pain who he was yelling at. As she was holding on to me as I leaned against her while Bryan was calling for help on his radio, a uniformed officer came in to keep guard as I was moved to the couch in the office as I started to cry as I felt the realization hit me that no only was I about to lose this baby, I had just lost the last lead we had in finding Nicky. The one lead we had on where Nick was just killed himself. "No, Nicky, no. We need you."

"Aggs, listen to me." Bryan cupped my face in his hands, "You are not going to lose this baby. I will see to it."

"My daughter in law! Anna!"

"Mom!" I yelled out to her, "Mom!"

"Oh thank Heavens." Mom and dad were coming in the room just as Greg came in to tell us that an ambulance was on the way. I started to shake my head in protest, but no one heard me, "Anna? What is it?"

I didn't say anything. Bryan was trying to calm me down, "She's having contractions I think. We've called 911."

Catherine got up as Patricia took her place, "Anna, honey. I know this is useless information, but please, calm down." She took one of my hands in hers as Bryan held on to my other hand, "Please. Calm down. Think of the baby, please."

"I'm thinking of my husband. He's trapped."

"We know." She looked up at Bill who was standing by the doorway, obviously shell shocked. Grissom went to him and started talking in hushed voices, "They will find our son. I promise you, they will find him."

When the paramedics showed up, it was two guys from our station. As much pleading and begging as they did, I signed the no treatment, no transport form. Bryan looked like he wanted to slap me but I didn't want to go to the hospital. I wanted to stay here. Even mom and dad tried to get me to go, but I adamantly refused to leave until someone had something on where Nick was.

"Mr. and Mrs. Stokes?" I looked up at the same time mom did. "Sorry, I meant Nick's parents." Ecklie came in the room, "Conrad Ecklie. I'm the director of the crime lab. If you could come with me, the mayor wants to set up another press conference about Nick."

"Why?" Dad stayed by the door, "Does he think that'll help my son?"

"It couldn't hurt." I heard him lower his voice, but I could still hear him, "He also thinks that having Nick's pregnant wife on camera would help garner sympathy. It'll urge people to come forward with any information about your son."

"Sympathy?" I tried to stand up but mom and Bryan were holding me back, "You want to use me for sympathy? Why not just use your resources and find my husband!" I gritted my teeth as I felt another contraction, but kept it to myself. I didn't want to be forced to go anywhere.

Ecklie took Nick's parents towards his office but told Grissom to try to get me to come, "Anything you can do to help will be appreciated. We'll be in my office. Press conference starts in ten."

I didn't move after they left. "Why do I need to show up?"

Bryan was more tactful than Ecklie was, "Aggs, it does help to have you there. You know as well as I do that the public responds to cute kittens, pregnant women and children though you should be at the hospital."

"Ecklie needs you in his office." Grissom started to pull on me again, "Nick's parents want to do the second press conference and they really want you to be in there with them."

"I don't want to be in any press conference." I glared at Grissom, "I want to be here."

"Let me." Bryan stood between Grissom and me as I kept my eyes on the monitor in the AV lab. We weren't in there anymore, but I could see through the glass that Warrick was still watching Nick on screen. "Aggs, if you don't want to do this, then don't. If you want to stay here, I'll stay with you. It's your choice."

I finally relented and Bryan led me to Ecklie's office to do the conference. I swore up and down I was not about to speak but Grissom assured me that Ecklie probably wouldn't let me anyway since he was a camera hog.

Bryan stayed off screen, just behind the cameraman and the news anchor. I could see him from my viewpoint and he promised to signal to me if he heard anything about Nick while I was doing this.

As the conference started, I could only hope I'd look over and see Bryan wave at me, telling me that someone in this building had something. "Somewhere in this building…" I stopped myself when the news reporter started speaking. I put my head down to finish my thoughts, "Is the talent it'll take to find Nick."

**A/N: Reviews welcome and encouraged as usual. Next part will be the rescue.**


	40. Help Me Hold On

**I hope I don't confuse anyone with my style of writing. I'll show the events through one character's POV then switch to a second, then a third. It may be Anna first, then Catherine and finally Nick, but it'll be one character seeing it, then another and so on. It's the only way I felt I could tell Nick's rescue properly and have it referenced in later chapters as Nick deals with the aftermath. Nick couldn't know what Anna saw while he was being rescued just as Anna couldn't experience what it was to be with Nick inside that box. Plus you know Nick's gonna have a lot of questions in later chapters that Anna won't be able to answer by herself without the added details.**

**As always, POV character is bolded.**

**Chapter 40 – Help Me Hold On**

**Nick**

"Enough." I was sweating from the heat and humidity inside the box. The little fan to my right barely moved any air and I knew that its only purpose was to keep me alive for a finite amount of time. It wasn't meant to keep me cool and the bright spotlight at the end of the box wasn't helping either, "Enough with the damn light."

 _Every time that light comes on, the fan quits running_.

"The fan's connected." Finally my brain clicked and it was making sense, "The fan's connected to the light."

I was suffocating with every tick of my watch and whoever kept turning that light on was pissing me off. Not knowing if it was the kidnapper playing mind games with me or what, I reached down to my side and felt of my gun. He left it in here for me to kill myself, but I had other ideas.

I chewed on a stick of gum to get it pliable enough to stick in my ears and after racking the slide of my gun back to get a bullet in the chamber, I took aim at the light and fired. Even with the gum shoved in my ears, the sound was so loud. "Ha!" I started to laugh as I broke open a glow stick and it cast the box in a green hue. When the fan started to run again, I turned my face toward the fan, relishing the wave of fresh air, "Thank God."

With the cool air blowing on my sweaty face, my mind began to wander again.

_"Um, hi. Hello."_

_"Hello to you, too." She started to smile._

_I realized then she was waiting on me to tell her what I wanted, "I um...I need help."_

_"Don't we all?" She reached in her pocket for a pen and got a clipboard out of the back of the ambulance and started filling out a run report._

_"What's wrong?" A man dressed in a uniform the same as hers approached the ambulance and took the clipboard out of her hands. "CSI Man needs help. How can I help you? Inhale too much fingerprint powder? Latex allergy?"_

_"I got this." She shot him a look as she snatched the clipboard back._

"Bryan." I remembered the first time I met Anna, "Do you think we would have gotten together if Bryan would have treated me that day? Fate I think had something to do with it. Either that, or it was just pure dumb luck." I closed my eyes and sighed, remembering more of that day.

" _Okay. Let's see how banged up you really are. Look at me, please." She flashed a pen light in front of me, "Any dizziness? Headaches? Nausea?" I shook my head and she continued. "Blurred vision? Loss of consciousness? Do you know what day it is?"_

_"No, no, no, no, not that I'm aware of and Thursday."_

"Oh god." I felt like throwing up, "What I wouldn't give to be out of here and with you right now."

In between memories of Anna and my childhood, I heard what I thought was scratching on top of the box, "Grissom?" The noises continued, "Warrick!" I started to pound on the lid of the box, "I'm in here!" When the noises didn't stop, I started singing the song on the radio from earlier,  _"It was Christmas in Las Vegas when the locals take the town. Theresa hit a streak and laid her waitress apron down."_ I shook the glow stick to give myself more light, "Grissom! Anna! Warrick! Anyone!"

The noise slowed down and I felt something falling on me, "Oh shit." Moving the glow stick to where I could see what it was, I watched as the box was cracking and creaking, "God damn it, no."

More dirt poured in from the cracks at my feet. I was trapped and the box was about to cave in on me, "Please, no." My pleas didn't stop the dirt from falling through the weakened sides of the box. When I shot out that light, I cracked the walls and because of my stupidity, I was about to die.

When the creaking finally stopped, the box was cracked on the sides, weakening the structure. Holding my breath, I started to pray that the box would hold up. I didn't know how far down I was, but I knew if the walls of the box collapsed, I'd die.

I picked up the tape recorder and flipped the tape over to the other side and hit record, "My name is Nick Stokes. If anybody finds this tape, turn it in to the Las Vegas PD. There should be a reward."

I swallowed hard, knowing what I was about to say, "Mom…"

My voice started to crack and I stopped the tape. I didn't want to say goodbye to my parents but I had to. This would be the last thing they'd ever hear from me and I wanted it to count. I had so much to say but my mind wouldn't work right.

Finally, I hit the button on the tape recorder and started again, "Mom, Cisco, well, this is a lousy way to say goodbye, but it's all I've got. I love you. You raised me right and I'm going to miss you." I felt a sob working its way up my body but choked it back so I could finish, "As for the rest of you guys, I know you did the best you could to find me. I'll miss you, too. Grissom, you've been the best supervisor I've ever had and I'm so sorry to have disappointed you. I want you to know how much you mean to me and I am forever thankful for what you've done for me." I let the tape recorder fall to my chest when the sob escaped my body. I knew who I had to say goodbye to next and this was about to be a lot harder to do than my parents and co-workers. I had to say goodbye to my wife and I wished I spoke enough French to have my goodbye to her where only she would understand it, but my French was about as bad as my Spanish, "Anna. My sweet Anna. Je suis desolee. I am so sorry."

I hit the pause button on the recorder to compose myself before I continued. When I finally found my voice again, I started the tape recorder once more, "How lucky I am to have someone who makes saying goodbye so hard. I love you. I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you and marrying you was the best decision I ever made and not for once do I ever regret it. I will never forgive myself for what I'm putting you through and the aftermath of it. No matter what, never forget how much you mean to me and know that I'll miss you for the rest of eternity. When our baby is born, hold him tightly. Tell him you love him and tell him that his father wishes he could be with both of you every day of your lives. I love you both so much and I am so sorry, so very sorry I won't be there for you both but please know I'll look in on you from time to time. Anna, please be happy in life. I know that right now, you won't be able to, but for me, please. Try to be. If finding someone else makes you happy, then please, find someone else. Just don't quit on me. Our baby needs you. You're all he's got left."

I let the tape recorder fall to the bottom of the box as I cried. "Damn it." I looked down at my feet when I felt something stinging. Screaming out in pain, I started to thrash around, "God help me." The pain was burning. It was excruciating and the more I moved, the worse it became, "Damn!"

Pain was the only thing I could feel and the only thing I could concentrate on. This wasn't pain like I fell and scraped some skin off my knees or had a headache. This pain was deeper. It was inside of me and rushing through my body. It was a burning pain that made me wish for anything to make it stop, including death. I remembered the gun that was under my hip. Picking it up, the handle was covered in fire ants. The ants continued to bite and sting me as I gripped it. They were willing me to end my life, not knowing exactly how close I was to that moment.

I started to struggle in the box with my pants legs covered with fire ants as they continued to make their way in with me. Unrelenting, I screamed in pain as they bit me, over and over again. I was trapped. I couldn't escape from the pain and thrashing around made it worse.

I started to panic wondering what to do when I thought about an entomology conference with Grissom a few years back. We had a case that involved a man with Down's syndrome being eaten by ants. After that case, Grissom wanted to study the effects of ants on a human corpse and found a conference that went over findings. As I dug in my pocket, I found a rubber glove and tore off pieces of it. Keeping my eyes shut, I stopped moving, hoping the ants would quit biting. Shoving the pieces of latex up my nose, that would at least keep them out of there. With my eyes shut, they couldn't get to my eyes, but they could sting my face. Lying completely still, the bites lessened, but only slightly. As hard as it was, I remained still and prayed someone would find me quickly.

I did not want to die. Not yet and not like this.

**Catherine**

Gil and I continued to watch the monitor. Nick was recording something, but not being able to lip read, I didn't know what it was. Gil made a comment about not being disappointed but when I questioned him, he didn't say anything. Suddenly, Nick looked down at his feet and he started to scream. I started to panic, "He's losing it! Nick!" We watched as he dropped the tape recorder and it fell near his head while he continued to look at his feet.

Sara and Archie were behind us, watching in horror, "Nick! Grissom, Nick's going into convulsions." We watched as Nick continued to scream, "He's losing it." Sara turned and looked back at Grissom but he continued to stare at the monitor. Nick looked like he was full mode panic, "W…What's going on?"

I looked over at Gil who was just as puzzled as we were, "What is…" I could tell as he stared at the monitor, he saw something. "Wait a minute." He enhanced the view on the feed as he zoomed in on the wall near Nick's head. "Ants." I looked to where he was pointing, "Ants are on the side of the glass coffin."

It hit me. Nick wasn't panicking. He's screaming. I felt like I wanted to throw up. Looking around to make sure Anna wasn't nearby, I shut my eyes, "My God."

Gil echoed my sentiments, "My God. He's being eaten alive."

I couldn't take it. I left Gil where he was and took Greg and Sara back to the garage to work on the Plexiglas coffin again. After checking on Anna, she was still in Mandy's office with Nick's parents and Bryan. I decided against telling them what was going on. Anna hadn't mentioned having another contraction, but with Bryan and Nick's parents there, something was telling me she was keeping quiet about them in order to stay close to us. Her stress level was already elevated and telling her that her husband was being eaten alive by fire ants wouldn't help. The officers were still in front of the door and I told them both not to let Anna out of their sight and for damn sure to keep her away from the live feed.

Attempting to keep my mind off Nick and the ants, I got to work on the box we found at the barn. Greg slid underneath it as Warrick and Hodges came in. I wasn't paying them any attention as I slowly walked around it, "This has got to be a prototype. It was probably built to test how long he could keep somebody alive inside. That would explain the dead dog and the dog entrails from earlier. He put the dog in the box, killed it and when he died, he pulled out the intestines to use to kidnap Nick."

Greg was under the coffin and swabbed a circular pressure indention on the bottom. Hodges leaned forward, peering at Greg through the top of the box, "Now, what are those?"

"I don't know." Greg slid the swab into the cardboard box it came with, "But you're gonna find out."

Hodges took the swab and stood up, "On it."

Warrick was using a calculator to figure something while he stared at the battery from the prototype coffin, "Alright, based on this battery and what's running off of it, and the fact that we kept the damn light on for as long as we did, I figure Nick's got another ninety minutes left." Greg and I remained quiet as Warrick set his watch to countdown for the next ninety minutes. All of us knew that the odds were not in our favor or Nick's but we couldn't give up. We all knew if Nick were here and one of us was in his place, he'd be working as hard if not harder than we were to find out where his buried counterpart was.

I told them I was going back to tell Gil what we found and for them to keep working. He was still in the office, with his eyes glued to the monitor. He was keeping an eye on the feeds and kept watching as ants walk quickly past the lens. "Oh, come on, pal." Another ant barely walked over the lens, but not much, "Yeah. That's it." He continued to watch the monitor as more ants walked in front of the lens, "Come on. Little more."

Sara had come into the office and was standing beside me as we watched, "Keep coming. Show me what you're made of. Come on, buddy." Almost as if it was teasing us, the ant danced across the edge and finally, it landed dead center on the lens. Gil hit the print screen button on the keyboard to make a screen shot, "Gotcha!" He immediately printed the photo off and looked pleased, "It's about time."

With the photo in his hand, Gil left us in the room and started to rush back to his office. I followed him and watched as he went to his library of bug books and pulled down large book off of one of the shelves. I saw from the title it was an entomology text and he started to flip through the pages. Picking up the printout of the picture to a drawing in the book, he looked relieved, "Solenopsis invicta."

"I don't have time to listen to you spew Latin at me." Nick was running out of time and we had to find him and Gil trying to show off his bug intelligence was wearing thin on my nerves, "And in English, what in the hell is that?"

"Break room with the rest of the team." He got up and left, headed back to the room we were in earlier. Everyone was still in their original positions and they were still watching Nick. Gil threw the book down on the desk and put the picture he printed off right next to it, "They're fire ants, very rare in Nevada. They don't like our soil. The only places you find them around Vegas are in plant and tree nurseries."

I hit a few buttons on another computer in the office and pulled up a listing of nurseries in the area, "According to this, there are eleven nurseries in the greater Las Vegas area."

Archie pulled up a map of Las Vegas and laid it out on the table, "Okay, I've got the web cam trace down to here." He drew a large circle in black ink on the map, "How many are in here?"

Greg picked up another marker, "And the data from the black box in Walter Gordon's truck gave us a twenty three mile travel radius." He drew another circle from the point where the barn was where Gil and I met him at and when he did, he cut the area down by half. Slowly but surely, we were narrowing it down. For the first time tonight, I had a small glimmer of hope.

"Okay." Warrick got the printout of the list of nurseries off the printer, "I've got two nurseries within the overlap area." He put two x marks on the sheet, "Here and here."

"Wait, wait. Wait, wait." Sara stared at both of the x marks on the map, "Kelly Gordon, the daughter of Walter Gordon, worked with plants. Hold on. Hold on." She ran out of the lab and down the hallway before coming back with a file folder, "You guys, Nick is here." She pointed to the left most blue x on the map. "Kelly Gordon worked here at this nursery."

"That's it." I threw everything down on the desk and started out the door. "We've got him. I'll go tell Anna. Everyone else, go!"

**Anna**

"Anna, stay here." Catherine moved toward the door as she pushed her phone into her pocket, "We may know where Nick is. The guy that blew himself up? His daughter is in prison and it's a case that day shift worked a few years back. The daughter worked at a plant and tree nursery."

With that, she turned and left, leaving me in the room, "Catherine!" She didn't hear me. I knew Bryan still had his department issued radio on him and with the earpiece in his ear, he had been listening in on radio traffic, but I couldn't hear what was being said, "Bryan." I pleaded, "Take me to him. I know you know where they're going and if you don't find out, I'll call dispatch myself."

"Aggie, no." He held on to me, "You need to stay here with me or go to the hospital to get checked out. Your choice."

"Fine." When Bryan sat down, I ran out of the room and heard him cuss me when I left. With me not being able to run fast, he caught up to me easily, "Bryan, please. I'm begging you. Just take me to where he is. I don't want to help. I just want to be close by because if there's a more hopeless feeling of trying to reach someone who is trapped underground, I don't know what it is. Please. Help me."

As Bryan stared at me, mentally debating what to do, he took me by the arm, "What about Nick's parents?"

"They're in with Ecklie and that asshat undersheriff guy. They're debating on another press conference and I don't want to be a part of that. Please." He still wouldn't move, "What if it were you asking me to help. You know I would."

"Guilt. Good move." Bryan was torn, "Aggie, really…"

"Bryan, please."

He finally relented, "Come on. I know I'm gonna regret this, but come on. When they find Nick, I'm taking you to the hospital to get checked out. I can tell by the grimace on your face every thirty minutes or so that your labor has not stopped even though you're lying to everyone else."

"Fine."

Quietly leading me out of the lab and out of the way of Ecklie and mom and dad, we got outside and after one quick glance around, he helped me into his truck and we left the lab.

"So help me, Aggs, you are to stay back. Got it? Stay in the truck."

"Fine. In the truck." I lied. I knew I'd get out as soon as we got there. I wanted to help. Bryan was quick, but he wasn't that quick.

I began to nervously bounce my foot against the floor mat in Bryan's truck. One highway gave way to another until we were at the nursery. The flashing red and blue lights of the LVPD cars lined one side of the road in to the nursery while the CSI vehicles were on the opposite side. Bryan pulled in behind one of the LVPD cars, just off of the highway and again told me to stay put. He rolled the window down and asked if they needed any help but was told to sit with me after Captain Brass shot him a dirty look for bringing me to the scene.

I watched as the people out here fanned out through the nursery. With all the trees and shrubs, I knew that finding Nick would be a needle in haystack. My foot bouncing became even more as a pain in my stomach hit. I gasped when it did and Bryan heard me, "Aggs?"

"Nothing." I lied, "It's nothing. I'm fine." I knew it was a contraction but didn't say anything and hadn't said much after someone called 911 earlier, even though I was still having contractions. If I did admit to what he already knew, Bryan would drive me straight to the hospital. It was going against everything we were both taught in paramedic school for me to be here, but right now, I had to be close to any information I could get to Nick. They just didn't understand I'd be a nervous wreck at the hospital and in some strange way, this helped me.

"You are not fine." He picked up my wrist to take my pulse, "Your pulse is up. Any dizziness? Nausea?"

"What the hell do you think? I'm pregnant and my husband is buried alive."

"Stupid question."

He kept hold of my hand as we watched. A few LVPD officers ran by the truck and headed north into the trees into the nursery. One of them turned to a group of Clark County Sheriffs Deputies coming up behind Bryan's truck, "We found him!"

"What?" I strained, trying to see what was going on, but I couldn't. The cars in front of us kept me from seeing what they were talking about. After making sure Bryan was distracted, I opened the door to his truck and got out and started to run, following the LVPD officers who were a few yards in front of me.

I was already at the tree line about forty feet away when Bryan caught me. Catherine was on her knees and was digging with her hands. Grissom, Warrick and Greg were next to her and they were also digging with shovels. I tried to move closer, but was I struggling hold myself up and tried to breathe deeply, but it was as though my lungs just wouldn't keep the air in. I gave up and fell to the ground. It was cold and hard under my hands, damp with the dew of the late night. My entire stomach was burning with pain, but it all narrowed down to one white hot point with the contractions which were stronger than before.

I couldn't move. People were rushing by me but I couldn't move. Someone's arm slid around my shoulders and another arm under my knees, and I was vaguely aware of being moved away from the commotion around where they thought Nick was buried. When I started to focus, I knew that it was Bryan behind me when he picked me up but hadn't a clue who was at my feet. My senses were finely tuned towards the spot where Catherine, Greg, Grissom and Warrick were and I didn't dare to take my eyes off of the mound of dirt.

I leaned my head against Bryan, feeling as though each of my limbs were made of lead. I don't know how far I was taken, but suddenly I was down again. Another set of arms supported my shoulders, and I tried to see clearly while someone else tried to get Bryan to move me back. I started to struggle and I heard him tell them to leave us alone. His voice was foggy. I couldn't understand why knowing he was inches behind me, but with my concentration on Nick, nothing else mattered.

I stood up, determined to get to Nick even though the noise in the background was fading slowly. The shouting was becoming quiet; the movement of the LVPD officers and everything around me was becoming blurry.

**Bryan**

"Aggie!" Barely having enough time to catch her before she fell, I managed to put my arms under hers. She was sobbing to the point of not being able to breathe, "Aggs." I struggled to keep her from slipping out of my grip. Rather than having her fall, I knelt down on the ground but kept a tight grip on her arms. Aggie was still hyperventilating. I yelled at one of the medics behind me to bring a tank of oxygen over with a mask to try to help her calm down. I didn't want to have to sedate her, but if she didn't calm down, she'd do more harm than good to her body and to the baby.

"Oh, God." Aggie doubled over and started shaking, "Bryan…"

"What?" I tried to pull her back to me, but she stayed doubled over, "What is it?"

"Contra…" I felt her body tense up under mine as her fingernails dug into the skin on my forearms, "It's a contraction."

Great. I knew she was lying all night long about her contractions stopping, but now I had proof, "Calm down. I know I'm telling you something you already know, but calm down. You've got to get to the hospital. Has your water broken yet?" She said no as I succeeded in pulling her up towards me and managed to stay on the ground with her. As we watched the police and rescue squad digging at the ground, Warrick yelled that they had him.

"I'm coming." Aggie tried to get up, but I held her back, "Let go of me!"

Still struggling, she managed to get up and started towards the hole. I got my hand around one of her wrists and pulled her back. When she saw that I was holding on to her, she reached around and her fist met my cheek, "LET ME GO!"

It took me a moment to realize that she hit me. My jaw wasn't broken, but Aggie had some force behind her blow. Shaking that off, I had to keep her away from the digging. She was crawling towards where her husband was and I reached and grabbed her left ankle and pulled. I didn't want to take a chance on having an allergic reaction to red ants while pregnant. I pulled her back towards me, but this time got both of my wrists around her hand and yanked hard, "You have to stay back. The red ants…"

She interrupted me, "I don't give a damn. I want to see my husband." Aggie doubled over again and collapsed to the ground, "Ohhhh…no….Bryan!"

"Get a fire extinguisher!"

I looked up to see who was shouting but instead, saw a uniformed officer run by us with one of the other CSIs right on his heels. "Aggie, breathe. You've got to calm down." I managed to pull her back another five feet or so away from the hole. I could tell from where we were that the people doing the digging were swatting at the ants as they dug. "You've got to stay back with me. They're going to get him out." I moved around to where I was sitting in front of her, "You trust me, right?" In between her sobs, she said she did, "Then you've got to trust me here. You can't go to Nick. I know you want to but you have got to stay back here with me. You're having contractions now as it is and though I'm not a doctor, the stress from the ant bites would be more than your body can handle. We have to go to the hospital now. Come on."

"Bryan, I…" Aggie started crying harder. The CSI and the uniformed officer ran by us once again with two more fire extinguishers. "Please, just until I see him…"

I sighed. If I was in her position and that was Cathy under ground, I'd want some sort of confirmation she was alive before I left. I knew it was wrong. I am a trained medical professional and I was going against everything I had ever been taught by not forcing Aggie to go to the hospital, but given her circumstances and the fact they were digging quickly, Nick would be out in less than a few minutes and I'd force Aggs to go with me to Desert Palms or I'd sedate her.

From our position, we watched as Catherine tossed her shovel on the ground as Grissom climbed into the box. Catherine's phone rang and in an instant, the mood of the situation changed, "Wha…" I kept my hold on Aggie to keep her down and watched as Catherine leaned over to the hole to say something.

"Nicky!" Aggie started screaming, "Nick!"

Someone ran by us and a moment later, came back leading a backhoe that was full of dirt, "Dump it now!" Grissom motioned towards the hole, "He's ready!"

I picked Aggie up and held her out of the way and watched as they dumped the dirt on the hole and in one motion, pulled Nick up with it but as soon as they did that, an explosion shook everything. "Oh shit…"

Aggie didn't hear what I had said, "Nick!" She started screaming for him even more, "Nicky!" When she started to struggle with me again, I kept my grip on her shoulders as we watched, "Jesus, no. Please, no." Her hands went to her middle before she fell to her knees again. With one hand on her stomach, she knelt over and put her left hand on the ground and started to cry, "No, no. Please, no."

"He's alive!"

Two more paramedics behind me rushed by us and bent down on the ground next to Nick. I couldn't see well from where I was, but he was on his stomach with his face planted in the dirt. He looked awful and was covered in bug bites. "Epi and oxygen now. We've got to go."

"Nicky!" Aggie continued screaming as she sat on the ground, unable to move, "Please, Nicky!"

After hearing her screaming, he finally looked over her way as I kept my hold on her to keep her from moving closer. The fire extinguishers had killed the fire ants in the box, but the fire ants in the dirt that was dug up were still a threat.

**Nick**

_The lights were bright and I was cold. Still paralyzed, I recognized the room as being in the morgue, but the view was off. It took me a moment to realize I was in the cooler and was lying down. Jesus, I was dead. "Well, this sucks."_

" _It's a damn shame they didn't get to him sooner." Doc Robbins was now in my line of sight, "Sure will miss him."_

_Super Dave was next to Doc Robbins. Both of them looked grim, "I sure will miss him. He was the one who gave me the name Super Dave."_

_Doc Robbins picked up one of my arms to show his assistant, who now appeared in a Superman costume, "You know, David, I've seen fire ant bites in my time, but never anything like this."_

_"Do you think he suffered?" Super Dave picked up my other arm, "These look bad."_

_"Do I think he suffered? Yes. Definitely." Doc Robbins dropped my arm, "What a horrible death."_

My eyes flew open and the instant they did, ants swarmed and started to bite. I shut my eyes tightly and hissed at the pain. I started to feel lightheaded and my pulse was racing, no doubt from the ant venom.

_The morgue was now in black and white. Super Dave and Doc Robbins were standing over me and they were laughing hysterically at me. "He's naked."_

_"David." Doc Robbins lifted the sheet, "I do believe you're right!" He started laughing again, "On to the autopsy. Did you find anything?"_

_Super Dave shook his head, "No signs of sexual trauma." Both of them started laughing again, "Pretty said since he was married and all."_

_Finally, the two of them controlled their emotions enough to stop laughing as Doc Robbins moves toward something I couldn't see, "Alright. On three."_

" _Uno." I couldn't see what Super Dave was counting._

_Doc Robbins held up two fingers, "Dos."_

_"Tres!" With both of them saying that in unison, Doc Robbins hit something and the song I heard in the truck on my way to the scene started playing while they both sang along._

_'It was Christmas in Las Vegas when the locals take the town…'_

_Doc Robbins handed Super Dave a scalpel, "Would you care to do the 'Y' incision?" He handed the scalpel right across the table where I could see it._

_"Well, 'Y' not?" Still in his Superman costume, he dissolved into a fit of laughter as he took what was now a large butcher knife in his hands. He turned and sank the knife into deep into my chest, but it didn't hurt. When he moved the knife around, I heard the sound of flesh being cut but I didn't flinch. I couldn't. I was still dead, but my eyes were open. I was watching everything. I moved my eyes around, hoping to get my attention, but Super Dave kept on happily cutting without even noticing._

_He put the large knife aside as Doc Robbins peeled the flesh over the left side my chest open then he peeled back the flesh over the right side of my chest. My eyes were still open. I know they were and I tried once again to get someone's attention, but failed miserably. I couldn't speak and I couldn't move. I couldn't call for help to let them know I wasn't dead._

_I was paralyzed as I saw Doc Robbins hand Super Dave a chain saw. He in turn handed Doc Robbins a face mask as he wielded the huge chain saw over my chest and started cutting, sending blood flying everywhere. I still couldn't move and was forced to watch horrified by what I was seeing. I blinked as blood spattered on my chest from the chainsaw, absolutely disgusted by what they were doing to me. I thought they were my friends, but apparently not._

_Finally, after having sufficiently covered much of their clothing and everything else in the morgue with a thick layer of my blood and mulched flesh, Doc Robbins put the chain saw aside and removed his face protection, looking pleased at the cut that was just made in my chest, "Yes." He reached in and cracked open my ribs, removing a portion of them with a grunt. After holding it up and showing Super Dave, he carelessly threw it over his shoulder and it hit the floor with a thump._

_"He won't need this anymore." I watch as some organ was passed across the table in front of me and Super Dave took it before Doc Robbins reached in and started pulling out my intestines like one very long sausage, "Nice." He threw the organ on the floor and moved on to something else, "Healthy lungs."_

_My dad and Anna appeared in the morgue, "So, Doctor. How did my son die? Anaphylactic shock?"_

_Doc Robbins laughed, "No, no, he didn't live long enough for that. COD was asphyxiation."_

_"Bummer. That totally sucks."_

_"When the blood oxygen drops to less than 16% and the CO2 builds up, there's a rapid loss of consciousness. Death within minutes with no disfiguring physical findings."_

_Anna looked pleased, "He looks just like my Nick, minus the ant bites."_

_My dad looked pleased, "He'll look great at the funeral as long as you can stitch him back up."_

_Doc Robbins reappeared with a huge sewing needle, "Oh, yes. That won't be a problem."_

_"His mother will appreciate that."_

_"Good." Doc Robbins reached into my chest and pulled out my heart, which was still beating, "Your son had a good heart." He handed my heart over to my father who just stared at it._

" _That's the reason I married him." Anna took my heart from my father before turning around throwing it into a biohazard bin by the door, making a clean shot, "His heart."_

My eyes flew open again, sending the ants back in. Swatting at them did no good. I felt the fire burning down my arm as I moved.

I started to gasp for air. I could feel my heart beating heavily in my chest. I thought to myself that this must be how it ends. I'll die alone in a box, covered in ants and I'll never see Anna again.

_Everything was bright. The sun was shining. I couldn't figure out where I was and the crowd of people in front of me offered no clue. The closer I got, I realized I was in a cemetery and it was a funeral. I looked down and saw I wasn't even dressed. Bare assed, I made my way towards the mourners and recognized the forms of my co-workers and family._

_But who died?_

_My grandparents had been dead for some time now. Anna still had her grandmother living and she was really the only one of her family she still kept in contact with but why in the hell was I naked?_

_Almost on cue, the minister took his stand at the podium and cleared his throat, "We're gathered here today to celebrate the life and times of Nicholas Parker Stokes."  
_

" _Well damn." I was dead and this was my funeral. I screamed but no one turned around, "I'm not dead!" I suddenly had clothes on and ran to the front of the group of people and started waving my hands, "I'm right here!"_

_They ignored me. Anna, my parents and sisters plus Tyler were seated in the front row. Anna was in all black and had a handkerchief in her hands. Mom was sitting to her right and when Anna started to sob so hard she couldn't breathe, my mother put her arm around my sweet Anna, "Anna?" I tried to touch her and my hand went right through her body. Horrified, I recoiled and took a step back, "Anna? Please." I tried to pick up something to throw at her, but grasping at a fallen pinecone yielded the same results. "Jesus, can't anyone hear me? I'm right here!"_

_No one heard me, but the wind picked up just as the minister continued, "A wonderful man. A loving son. A dedicated husband. It's just a shame he couldn't stay around long enough to see his own child born. How selfish." The minister looked down at something and I recognized him from a church I attended in junior high school. "What else needs to be said?"_

_My funeral. I was dead. Like in the morgue, I tried to get someone's attention, but I couldn't. I was invisible. I had tried yelling. I had tried getting their attention but couldn't. I tried knocking over plants and some flowers to the right of the minister, but nothing. My hand went right through them. The leaves on the potted plant sitting on top of my casket moved briefly but to the crowd gathered for my funeral, it looked like the wind. The only thing I could do was watch as the minister gave my eulogy._

_I heard Anna sobbing and looked over to see Jillian on the ground in front of Anna, hugging her. Anna was still pregnant and was heaving to the point of gagging. My mother tried to calm her down, but she kept sobbing. I stood behind Jillian and Allison, trying to get their attention. When I batted at Jillian's hair, she swatted at it like it was an insect landing, but no one could see me. "Anna!" I jumped up and down and tried to kick over the tent they were under, but I got the same results as I did earlier: nothing. I was dead and no one could help me now._

_I looked around but didn't see that white light that everyone kept talking about. The only light I saw was the sun and if that was the white light, I was cheated in Sunday School as a child. "If I'm dead, where is the white light? Where are the angels?" I swung again at the plant on my casket, but the leaves just barely moved this time._

_The minister droned on in the background about my life and working with the crime lab. When he called for friends and family to speak, Grissom was the first one to stand up, "Nick Stokes. What can I say about Nick Stokes?" He pulled out an index card but tore it up and threw it in the air; the pieces falling to the ground like confetti. "Well, he's dead now and that sucks" He started to leave the podium, but almost as an afterthought, he stopped himself, " Oh, we have an opening at the LVPD CSI Crime Lab if anyone's interested."_

_With a last glance my direction I thought he saw me, "Grissom? You can see me!" I moved closer towards him, "I'm right here!"_

" _It's a shame really." He stopped again to look at my casket, "Hey! You can hardly see the ant bites! That makeup the morticians use is awesome. He looks brand new!" He chuckled to himself before he took his place between Catherine and Sara._

_My brother spoke, followed by my father. They retained their dignity better than Grissom and the minister did. "Well, time to say goodbye." With my father at the end of my casket and my brother at the side, they moved the lever holding the lid up and it snapped shut. I was no longer standing next to the casket. Now I was inside, sealed in darkness._

"No!" The ants continued to bite and sting. Inside the box, the whirring sound of the fan slowly stopped. Through the ants and the pain, I heard it and realize what was happening, "Oh, my God. No, no, no, no." I was about to die. With no fresh air moving in the coffin, I had an hour, two at most, of air left but that was if the ant venom didn't kill me first. I was already hallucinating and was now seeing flashing lights and strange colors and I knew that in the dark confines of the box, I was about to die. The venom from the bites would stop my heart and I'd die. I just hoped it wouldn't be as painful as this. I thrashed around in the box and found my gun. "God, I'm so sorry, Anna. I love you." I had to make sure my death was quick and painless, or at least less painful than the ant bites I was currently getting. I aimed the gun under my chin and closed my eyes, forcing myself to pull the trigger.

"Hey!"

The gun fell to my chest and the sound was muffled as there were even more flashes of light above me. I could see them through my eyes, even with my eyes shut, but I didn't think they meant anything. "The white light. It's come for me!" I put the gun under my chin and after a few sobs, I got ready to pull the trigger to end it all, "Sweet Anna, I love you."

"Nick! Look at me!"

The lights above me kept moving around. I could hear something outside, but my eyes were shut. I also heard a loud pounding from above me. Was the angel of death beating on the box to tell me to hurry up? Could they do that? Apparently more than I knew, Sunday School got it all wrong. When I saw my Sunday School teacher in Heaven or wherever it was I was supposed to go, we were going to have a nice, long chat.

The pounding continued, "We got you, man! Hey, Nicky!"

"Wh…" I opened my eyes and wiped through the condensation on the top of the box. To my shock, I saw light. There was light coming through the condensation and I started to cry. I used my free hand to wipe more condensation off and rather than the angel of death, I saw Warrick Brown on top of me. I had been found. My team found me. I couldn't think of a better sight to see than the dark, night sky and Warrick.

"Nicky! Yeah. Hey, hold on there." I looked up and saw Warrick even more clearly. He had leaned in closer so I could see him, "Hey! The gun! Put that down. Put that down." He motioned for me to put something down, but my mind was swimming in a sea of ant venom and I didn't register what it was, "The gun! Nick! The gun. Put that down. We got you. We're gonna get you out of here." The pain from the ants was overtaking my senses.

_The gun?_

I realized I had something in my hand. I was still holding onto the gun. He wanted me to put it down so I didn't shoot myself or him. I dropped the gun and heard it fall to the bottom of the coffin with a thud. Warrick let out an exasperated sigh, "Thank God!" He was speaking to me, but it wouldn't register with me what he was trying to say until I let it sink in. "Hang in there." He turned his head and yelled behind him, "Oh, my God. We need that fire extinguisher! Give me that fire extinguisher!"

I was vaguely aware of the edge of the box being opened and a suffocating blast of something extremely cold being sprayed all over me. It felt so good that I continued to cry in relief. For the first time since the ants came in through the cracks, I felt relief. I was still swimming in a sea of ant venom and the voices above me were muffled to the point of not being able to hear them or comprehend what anyone was saying, but at least the ants weren't biting as much. I heard the sounds of Warrick begging me to hang on as the cool air filtrated into the confined space I was in. I breathed deeply and coughed violently. I started to gag and that got Warrick's attention, "Hold on, Nick. We gotta kill the ants."

"The ants." I was still crying, "Oh…"

"Nick! We're gonna get you out of here."

"Everyone out of the hole." Catherine was screaming as I started to shake my head trying to ward off the nausea, "That box is ready to explode!"

"Are you kidding?"

"Get out of there now!" She was still screaming, "Now! Out!"

"I'm not leaving without Nick!" Warrick remained on the lid of the coffin, "I'm not going until he's out."

"Rick, there are charges under the box!"

"I'm not leaving here without him." He yelled over his shoulder to her, "Figure something out."

"Warrick, Catherine's right. Get out of the hole now." Grissom moved into my line of sight, "Trust me. I know what we're gonna do. Just trust me."

I watched as Warrick looked once at me before apologizing and leaving me. I started to scream and beat on the cover as everyone left me, "Help! Damn it, help me! Get me out of here!"

I felt something drop on top of the box and looked up to see Grissom sitting on top of me, "Nick!" He put his hands on the glass, "Can you hear me?" I said I could, "It's gonna take us a minute to get you out of there, okay? Nick!"

"I want out. Get me out." I started to push on the lid, "Get me out!"

"Pancho!" I froze. "Listen to me." He put his right hand flat on the box cover, "Put your hand on my hand."

With considerable amount of pain, I managed to move my hand up to touch Grissom's, "Yeah?"

"Good. Now listen. There may be explosives under the box. They're probably set on pressure switches. We need to equalize your body weight before we can pull you out, okay?" I didn't respond and that got Grissom's attention, "Pancho, nod your head if you understand me."

After working through another wave of pain and nausea, I let what he told me sink in and eventually did what he asked, or at least I hoped I did. I wasn't sure if I had control over my body anymore. I was having a very hard time concentrating. I wanted to close my eyes and sleep but I couldn't. If I fell asleep, I'd die.

After yelling at someone just out of my line of sight, Grissom got back on the coffin to keep me focused, putting his hand on mine, "Alright, Pancho, we're gonna open the lid and get you out, but I need you to stay lying down. Okay? Or else you'll blow us all up."

I swallowed hard, "Yeah, yeah."

"Do you promise?"

"Yeah." I was crying again, "Yes."

I heard something loud coming from outside. It was a low rumble. Thunder maybe? I didn't care. I just wanted out. I wanted out and I wanted to see Anna.

Grissom was still on top of the lid and refused to get off, "Pancho, say 'I promise.' Say it to me."

Through my tears, I told him I promised not to move.

He opened the lid and I stayed still. The fresh air felt so good. I breathed in deeply again, but was overcome with a violent round of coughing. I once again tasted the salty bitterness of blood and realized I was coughing up blood and lots of it. Over the roar of the noise coming from beside me, I heard Anna screaming in the background, "Anna!" I started to get up. I had to see if she was okay, "Sweetie, please! Anna?"

Grissom got my attention and stopped my struggling, "Anna's fine. She's here, Nick. Don't move."

I let out a loud sob as I cried. Reaching out blindly, I felt Grissom's arm as he reached into the coffin to place his hand over my chest, "Stay still, Nick."

"Nicky!" Anna continued to scream, "Nick!"

"Anna!" My voice was so hoarse there was no way she could have heard me, "Anna!"

Warrick reached in towards me, "I got you. I got you." I grabbed at him and tried to pull myself up. "Nick, lay still. Lay still. It's okay. It's okay."

"Whe…Anna? Where's Anna?"

He kept repeating to me that everything was okay, "Anna's a safe distance away and she's fine. Nothing happened to her because she's been with us since this started. Bryan has her. She and the baby are fine."

Baby. Because of the ant venom, it took me a minute to remember Anna was pregnant. The initial wave of panic started to subside and I calmed down. My wife was okay. My baby was okay, "Okay."

I looked over at Grissom yelling at someone behind where he was, "Alright, bring that over." The noise got louder as I started to see the edge of a backhoe approaching me, "Nick, I've got to clip this to your belt. Just sit still." I felt him tugging on my pants before he got my attention again, "Okay, Pancho, I want you to close your eyes and hold your breath." My panic was coming back when Grissom yelled now.

The weight of dirt was on my chest, but before I could panic, I was being pulled up and was flying out of the hole, the air rushing around behind me. Behind me, I heard an explosion as I hit the ground with a sickening thud and groaned loudly. My whole body hurt and I started to sink into unconsciousness. I had held on as long as I could. I just couldn't do it anymore.

"Nick?" I felt someone shaking me, but I couldn't respond. I think I tried to groan or move, but I wasn't sure if I did either.

"Nicky!" I opened my eyes as I blinked a few times to clear my vision. Anna was about thirty feet away from me and was crying. Bryan had her by the shoulders, "Nick!"

"Epi and oxygen now. We've got to go." I looked up and saw two paramedics in front of me with a gurney, "Now!"

I saw Anna collapse and it was all I could do to hang on. My eyes fluttered shut with my last vision being of the night sky.

**Bryan**

"Contrac…Con…" I looked down at Aggie as she was crying once again as she took deep, even breaths, "Oh…G-God help…"

She went limp, "Aggie?" I shook her, "Anna! Wake up, Anna!" She didn't respond, "Meri-Anna! God Damn it, Anna!" I picked her up and carried her back to a second ambulance as another paramedic was loading Nick into the ambulance next to ours. The driver jumped in the front seat after he slammed the door and the other paramedic got in the front seat. "Dutch, find out how Nick is. Radio the other units." I turned my attention back to Aggie who was lying on the gurney in the back of the ambulance. I got the radio mic off of my shirt and called in to the medical dispatch center that we were en route to Desert Palms with one late term pregnancy with pre-term labor.

I was told to administer oxygen by mask, which I was already doing, "Frog, the ambulance with her husband is in front of us. Radio traffic to MedComm was about the same as it was earlier. He's pretty bad."

I shook my head and picked up Anna's left hand in mine. She was still unconscious, no doubt having fainted after what she saw at the nursery, "Just hurry the hell up. She can't lose Nick or this baby and I can't lose her."

**Catherine**

I watched as Bryan was carrying Anna in the ambulance next to the one the paramedics were using to transport Nick. Without thinking, Warrick and I both jumped in the one with him and no one questioned us. The driver saw us sitting on the bench seat but rather than throw us out, he nodded slightly and slammed the door before getting in the front. He understood why we were here.

I couldn't hold on to Nick's hand like I wanted to. His hands were swollen from the ant venom. I knew in the field before he was loaded, the paramedic in the back with us had given Nick something and I had guessed it was to counteract the ant bites. After applying leads from a heart monitor and an oxygen sensor, I kept an eye on the monitor's screen. Warrick was sitting beside me and was staring at Nick, who had his eyes closed and wasn't responsive. I reached out for Warrick's hand and held on to it for dear life. The paramedic in the back picked up Nick's hand and with a pair of scissors in his other hand, he snapped off Nick's wedding ring with one cut and the two pieces fell to the floor underneath him. His finger was already purple because of the swelling.

"Can you find out how Anna's doing?" I started to plead with the paramedic in the back with us, "She's in the next ambulance with Bryan Brooks."

"Yeah." He asked the driver of the ambulance to find out how Anna was. I listened in as our paramedic called in to the hospital to alert them about Nick's condition. I didn't have any medical training but I knew the words 'anaphylactic shock' and 'severe airway compromise with heart palpitations' weren't good.

The driver of the ambulance gave us the news we wanted to hear about Anna, "Frog said Aggie is unconscious, but her rates are good. He sedated her in the rig to keep her rates from spiking and to keep her from waking back up. Said she was pretty worked up earlier and the baby's heart rate is good and her water hasn't broken."

"That's good." Our paramedic looked up from Nick long enough to address Warrick and me, "Her water hasn't broken so that's good. They'll probably put her on a magnesium drip at the hospital to stop the labor."

"And if they can't?"

The medic looked at Warrick and me, "Then…"

My face paled. We both knew it was too early for her to deliver, "God, no." I felt like throwing up. Not only was Anna in danger of losing Nick, she was also in danger of losing her baby. Damn it, I should have forced her to go to the hospital earlier. All of us in the lab should have made her go. I mentally chastised myself for my stupidity over not making her go.

Finally after a ten minute ride from the nursery, we were at Desert Palms. LVPD had blocked off the last few streets from the highway to the hospital and we had a police escort in front of us and two squad cars behind us. The ambulance with Anna in it was behind us and as our driver parked and got out, Warrick and I watched as the two of them pulled Nick out of the ambulance. Bryan was shoving the gurney with Anna on it inside, right behind Nick. Anna's limp arm fell off the gurney as she was rushed inside.

Nick looked horrible and I was glad Anna was unconscious and not able to see him. An ED nurse stopped Warrick and me at the doors heading back to the trauma rooms. Warrick held on to my hand as the metal doors shut, isolating us from both Nick and Anna. I was shell shocked at how close we came to losing Nick. "He's gonna be okay." I looked up at Warrick, "He has to be."

"They both will. My grandmother used to always say 'If you're going to cheat, cheat death.' Nick did just that tonight and he will beat this."

I took a seat in the corner of the waiting room with Warrick as we waited on the rest of the team to arrive.

**A/N: Another long chapter, so I expect lots and lots of reviews.**

**I mentioned in a PM that I don't have any experience with pregnancy and am basing Anna's contractions from stress off of an episode of ER where Elizabeth goes into preterm labor when she's out in the field in a stressful situation. If Anna's preterm labor is not realistic, blame the writers of ER and _remember this is fictional._**

**Expect someone from the past to show up in an upcoming chapter. Any guess who it'll be? When you leave me a review, leave me your guesses. I'll let you know for sure which chapter our mystery guest will be in the chapter before. It'll probably be chapter 42 or 43 but I'll warn you the chapter before.**


	41. Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone

**Chapter 41 – Ain't No Sunshine When She's Gone**

**Bryan**

Not even giving the doctors a chance to object after we signed Aggie over to them, I stayed with her as they were giving her the once over. One of them started to argue with me to get me to leave, but I adamantly refused. He ignored me and went back to treating her for the time being.

I had been watching for about half an hour when I felt someone behind me and knew immediately who it was, "Cathy."

"Oh, God." Cathy moved forward to get a better look at Aggie but saw the tear stains down my dirty face, "Did they…Is Nick…Did he…"

She was trying to ask me if CSI Man was alive, "Yeah. He's alive." I pawed at tears falling down my face as I yanked the earpiece to my radio out of my ear. I couldn't take the distraction of every police officer in Clark County constantly radioing about how CSI Man was, "I don't know how he's doing though. Aggie was having contractions at the nursery where they found him. I had to sedate her in the truck so she wouldn't wake up on the way here to keep her rates down." One of the ED nurses shoved me back and Cathy took my hand and pulled me to the corner of the trauma bay, "Her water didn't break though, but she was having contractions and they were pretty bad." The effort to fight back tears was making throat hurt, "That's about all I know right now."

Cathy put her arms around my waist as I put one of my arms across her shoulders and held on to her, "She'll be okay. They'll start the magnesium drip as soon as she's stable so they can stop the labor. Anna and the baby will be fine."

I've known Cathy long enough and I noticed that she wasn't so sure of herself about the docs being able to stop Aggie's labor but I didn't say anything. I just kept watching as Aggie's OB came in and started to do her exam. Cathy excused herself from the room and I followed her outside and leaned against a wall to recoup. It was the first quiet moment I had had in over twenty hours. It was a mistake for me to work the extra day without Aggie given how tired I was right now and I still had two more days to face after this. After a few minutes of silence, I looked around and didn't see anyone near me. Cathy had disappeared, "Cathy?" She was gone, "Hon?"

When I finally found her, she was three doors down in another trauma room watching through the window as they were working feverishly to save CSI Man, "They've just intubated him. I can't tell from here what they've done other than that. Was he conscious at the scene?"

"Yeah." I choked back more tears, "He was but barely. I know he heard Aggs screaming for him, but he was in so much pain from the ant bites that I don't know if he was even aware of what was going on. When Aggie collapsed, I ran with her to the other ambulance and didn't even see them loading him in. I had one of the guys call the hospital MedComm to find out how he was doing, but even then, it was grim."

With us quietly watching, the doctors in the trauma room continued to work on CSI Man. I was just about to leave to go check on Aggie when I saw Catherine and another CSI standing in the doorway towards the trauma room. Without an ID badge or the code to get in the doors, that was as far as they'd go. Cathy hit the button on the inside where we were and the doors swung open. Catherine took a step in but didn't go very far and had to take a step towards Cathy so that the doors would close, "Is he in there?"

I cast a forlorn glance over at the windows to the trauma bay where CSI Man was, "Yeah."

"Do I want to know how he is?"

"Intubated. That's about all I know. Anna is three doors that way." I pointed to the left of where we were. "I had to sedate her in the rig to keep her calm. She passed out at the nursery, but I didn't want her to wake up."

The four of us stood in silence, keeping our vigil over CSI Man, until one of the docs that was working on him came out, "Cathy?"

She looked over at him when she heard her name, "Russell? How's Nick?"

"And these are…" The man looked at us.

"Oh, my husband, Bryan who is Nick's brother in law and these two are from the crime lab."

Catherine stepped forward and held out her ID, "Catherine Willows, assistant supervisor. This is CSI Greg Sanders. We work with Nick and were at the scene where he was found. His parents are on their way up here."

"I see." He held out his hand and I shook it, "Dr. Russell Toll. I'm the ED attending tonight. Should we wait on his parents to get here? I noticed he wore a wedding band from the tan line. Where's his wife?"

I couldn't say it. I pointed towards the other trauma bay as Cathy spoke up for me, "She was brought in right after Nick was. Premature labor."

"Damn." Dr. Toll passed a glance back towards the trauma room, "We've given him paralytics plus massive doses of steroids and antihistamines to keep the swelling down as well as a double dose of the anti venom to counteract the ant stings. We've also started him on fluids to deal with the extremely severe case of dehydration plus pain medication and antibiotics. There are several other doctors in with him now." He took a step towards the wall when a tech came through, pushing a portable x-ray into Nick's room, "He's serious. Very serious. We're doing all we can for him to keep him out of multiple organ and system failure and feel that a medically induced coma is the best way to handle his condition for now. How's his wife?"

I shook my head, "I had to sedate her in the ambulance on the ride over. She collapsed at the scene after going into premature labor. She was in labor probably a few hours but kept lying to everyone until the contractions got pretty bad."

"I'm looking for Bryan Brooks?"

"Me." I turned around and saw a woman in surgical scrubs looking out of Aggie's room, "What's wrong?"

"Patricia Stokes is here. She asks that you meet her up front."

"Be right back." I left Cathy, the two CSIs and Dr. Toll where they were and went up front to get CSI Man's parents.

They were hugging in the waiting room with the CSI bug guy and Warrick beside them. The other CSI woman who was at the scene was behind CSI Man's mother but I couldn't for the life of me think of her name right now. Susan? Serena? Stacey? I knew it was an S name but I'll be damned if I could remember it right now, "Mr. and Mrs. Stokes?"

"Bryan." CSI Man's mom walked to where I was and pulled me into a hug, "Where's my Nicholas? Where's Anna?"

"Nick is in there." I pointed to the trauma room down the hall, "And Anna's down that way. I don't know much. The ED doc working on Nick knows my wife and said he's sedated, intubated and heavily medicated."

"And Anna and the baby?"

Cathy told us to come on back, "We don't know." She turned her attention back to the window into the room where Aggie was, "Her OB is in there with her now, but we don't know. No one has told us anything about Anna yet."

Sara. Her name was Sara. It dawned on me while I was watching Aggie until a nurse drug a standing curtain over and blocked our view, "No…"

"What?" Patricia and her husband looked at me, "What?"

I didn't answer. A million thoughts were running through my head. Emergent c-section. Aggie crashed again. The baby was in distress. Aggie was dead. The baby had to be delivered right now. The baby was dead. Without saying a word, I found the nearest bathroom and threw up. My best friend was in danger and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. She was about to get the ass kicking of her life when she woke up for not listening to me and for not going to the hospital earlier in the night. I deserved one myself for not drugging her and taking her myself.

An hour later, Aggie's doctor finally came out and said they were moving her up to the OB floor to monitor her and the baby, "Her labor hasn't stopped yet, but I promise you, we will do everything to stop it." She took me by the arm and pulled me into an alcove with the other CSIs and Nick's parents following us, "Anna is still unconscious after we sedated her again. She grew quite combative and very unreasonable. That's why we had to use the curtain. She was waking up and we didn't want her to see anything."

In the midst of everything going on, I had to smile. That was my Aggie. Stubborn and pig headed as always. "I take it the sedatives I gave her in the ambulance wore off?"

"Yes. Sedating her again keeps her calm and it is keeping her rates down, protecting the fetus."

Right on cue, one of the orderlies shoved the trauma room doors open and pushed Aggie out in the hallway, "Aggs?" I picked up her hand, "Anna?" She didn't respond and before I had a chance to argue, they shoved her away from my grasp, "Can I go with her?"

Dr. Lindley looked at me, "And you are?"

"Her brother." Patricia spoke up as she put her hand on my shoulder which surprised me, "This is my daughter-in-law's brother. I'm her mother-in-law and this is my husband, Bill. The rest of them are with the Crime Lab. Her husband, my son, was brought in earlier."

"I see." Dr. Lindley looked at the group of people crowded into the hallway. I was standing close to Cathy and the two CSIs were standing behind her. CSI Man's parents were off to one side with an OB nurse behind them, "The brother and in-laws can go. The rest of you can stay in the waiting room on the floor and take turns. I don't want too many people crowding her when she wakes up." Without another word, she turned and started towards the service elevators.

I led the way up the service elevators and to the fourth floor where the OB wing was. We were told to wait out in the hallway until they got Aggie settled in, then one of the floor nurses would call us in.

It was a long four hours before we were finally allowed to come in. After many more exams and adjustments to the medications, Dr. Lindley told us it was safe, but for us not to stay too long.

CSI Man's parents stayed with me for about ten minutes but left to go check on their son who was also just brought up to a room on the ICU floor which was one level down from where I was with Aggie. Patricia gave me her cell phone number and asked I call if there was any change with Aggie. I gave her mine and asked that she do the same if there was any change with CSI Man.

I had one of the OB nurses bring me a reclining chair and settled in. It was about to be a long night.

I was about half asleep when a thought jarred me awake.  _Aggie's parents._

"Damn it." I groaned. I know they probably wouldn't care, but I had to call them. Reaching in my pocket for my phone, I dialed their number and began to explain what had happened. Aggie's frigid mother answered the phone and her only response was that she'd pray for Aggie's safety as well as the safety of the baby and CSI Man.

"Merci I pensent." I shoved the phone back in my pocket and exhaled a heavy sigh, "Je devine qu'elle n'est pas importante." Dealing with Aggie's parents was never on my list of top things to do, but they deserved to know what happened to not only CSI Man, but also their daughter. Too bad they didn't give a shit.

I knew when I called that the response would be a bit brash, but not this bad. Rather than being concerned about their daughter, Aggie's mother said she'd tell husband, Samantha and Aggie's grandmother and that they'd all pray for her. I balled up my hands into tight fists and leaned against the concrete wall in the hospital room. Fighting back the tears, I calmed my nerves and turned around to see Patricia in the room with me, "How long have you been here? I didn't even hear you come in."

She stayed on the opposite side of Aggie's bed but picked up one of her hands, "A few minutes. I gather from the conversation, that was some of Anna's family? What was it you said?"

"Yeah." I resumed my post over Aggie as I sat down, "Her mother. I said 'Thanks I think. I guess she's not important.' That's par for the course. My parents are worried sick."

Patricia took the seat on the opposite side of the bed, "And they'll be here when?"

I let out a bitter laugh, "Her parents aren't coming. Said they would pray for her and for me to email them with updates. I hate dealing with her family. They do whatever they want and it never involves Anna. I told my parents to stay where they were and I'd let them know."

"I'm sorry, Bryan. I truly am. No child deserves to have parents like that." Patricia put down Aggie's hand gently on the bed, "How is she doing?"

"Sedated." I let out a sigh as I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, "Still sedated. The magnesium drip has been going for a while now. Anna's OB has been in and out all day and said the labor has slowed down, but not stopped. She wants to keep Anna sedated for at least another day. How's Nick?"

"The same. Doctors are still worried about the severity of the ant bites and keep whispering behind our backs that they're not sure if he'll even pull through. Their main concern is kidney or liver failure from the toxins from the venom." Patricia was quiet as she watched Aggie, "He will pull through though. They don't know my son."

Shortly after that, Patricia left but said Bill would be in sometime in the next hour to check on Aggie. Until she woke up, they were going to take turns sitting with CSI Man as well as Aggie. I told her I wouldn't leave Aggs alone and that made her feel better.

My parents called about an hour later and in the middle of the phone conversation, Bill came in and saw me holding Aggie's hand. He told me to finish my phone call and took a seat next to me while I told my parents what was going on. When I was finally finished, I asked how CSI Man was.

"Same. Sedated, swollen and covered in ant bites. He's got a long road ahead of him." Bill looked at me and crossed his arms, "I know you're not really her brother, are you?"

I turned around to see Bill staring hard at me, "Not biologically, no."

"Then why do you say you are?"

"How much has Nick told you about Anna's family?"

"Only that they're not close. Why?"

"Not close." I shook my head, "Not close is an understatement." I returned to keeping my vigil over Aggie, "Not close is a gross understatement. Did he tell you she basically lived with us after she turned six?"

"No."

"Well, she did." I sighed. I hated bringing these memories up. I knew Aggs didn't like people in her Kool-Aid and I wasn't comfortable devouring her personal information, but this man was her father in law and I didn't want to be thrown out of the hospital seeing as how he had the power to do that since I wasn't technically what anyone would legally call family, "I don't know how much Anna wants everyone to know, but the story in a nutshell is that she didn't have the happy childhood that you and your wife provided for your children. Anna has an older sister that her parents adored and doted over. When Anna was born, she was ignored. Her parents hired an au pair to tend to her until she was about five years old, then the nanny left to go back to England. After that, she and I became inseparable."

Bill turned his chair to an angle where he could watch me, "I still don't understand why you pass yourself off as her brother."

"Because until Nick came along, no one else gave a damn about her but me. That's why. Her own parents don't care. Her sister doesn't care. No one cares but my family and me. If you ask my mother, she's got two daughters and me. My sister Jenna, Anna and me. My parents gave Anna the happy childhood she didn't have at home. We've done everything together and I love her like I love Jenna. There's nothing romantic there and there never has been."

"I see."

I was beginning to get annoyed, "No, I don't think you do. I called her mother earlier and Patricia came in when I was ending my phone call. Anna's mother basically said she'd pray for her daughter and then hung up the phone. She had even forgotten Anna was pregnant. My mother and father have been calling me about every hour wanting to know how she is. My phone battery died from talking to them so much which is why I've got Anna's iPhone. I sent an email to Anna's sister and have yet to hear back."

"So they're not coming?"

I shook my head, "Doubt it. They don't care about her the way you care about Nick. You heard he was in trouble and what did you do? You hired a charter plane to get you to Las Vegas. What did Anna's mother do? Offer to pray. You see who's sitting here with her, don't you? Me. I'm the only one here besides Cathy, Patricia and you who give a damn about her."

"Look." Bill sighed, "I don't mean to sound harsh but I was just trying to understand you better. That's all. It hurt Patricia and me that you took Anna to the nursery to find Nick knowing about the contractions earlier."

"I took her because if I didn't, she'd go alone. She would have gone alone and God only knows what would have happened to her. Anna's a very, very stubborn woman and I knew she was going to that nursery with or without me, one way or another. No, I didn't want to take her. I wanted to keep her at CSI, but she insisted on going and trust me when I say, she would have found a way to get there, even if she hitchhiked. Because I was there, I was able to treat her on the way here. I was able to sedate her to keep her labor from progressing to the point of delivering a baby that in all likelihood wouldn't have survived."

"Then I guess I owe you a debt of gratitude."

"For what?"

"For keeping my daughter-in-law safe. For being there for her when Nicholas can't. For being her brother."

Finally I think he got it, "You don't owe me anything. Anna would have done it for me if the situation was reversed."

"You don't normally call her that, do you?"

I shook my head, "Nope but if I call her by her nickname around most people, it just confuses them."

"I see." Bill stood up, "I'm going to go check on my son. Patricia will be in here in a bit to check on Anna. If anything changes, please come get us."

I told him I would as I listened for the door to shut behind me before I leaned back in the recliner and tried to sleep.

**Anna**

I grumbled and tried to turn over, but couldn't. I fought a bit harder but my hands wouldn't move. "Anna?" I heard a female voice calling to me, but it was foggy. I did know the voice, but couldn't place it, "Anna?"

With my mind swimming in a sea of something, I managed to come to the conclusion that because my muscles were stiff, I had been unconscious for a while, but the more I pulled, the more I realized I was tied down. My first question was how long was I out and my second was why was I tethered to the bed? "Nick?"

The female voice was replaced by a male voice I recognized instantly, "Aggs?"

I blinked against the sunlight coming in through the window on the west end of the room and saw Cathy sitting in the window ledge. The sun was in the western sky, so it was some time in the mid to late afternoon, "How long have I been out?" I tried to pull my wrists up and couldn't, "And why am I tied to the bed?"

"You've been in and out of consciousness for about three days now." He pulled a chair over closer to me and started to undo the restraint on my right wrist, "You were sort of combative."

"So someone tied me to the bed?"

Bryan shrugged his shoulders as he reached over me and took the restraint off my left wrist, "You didn't give us much choice, hon. You were in labor, which I understand, but you wouldn't calm down, so your doc sedated you and tied you to the bed a couple days ago when you woke up in a hot mess of a fit in the ED. Good news is you can have the restraints off because the magnesium drip has done its job. Your labor has stopped."

I rubbed the spots on my wrists where the restraints were as Bryan sat back down, "What did I do?"

He smiled, "You did what any human being would do if they were in your shoes, Aggs. You went postal."

"So we had to sedate you. It was the only way that we could control you. Actually, the decision was made to tie you down after Dr. Lindley agreed to let you wake up from the sedative." Cathy moved off the ledge and sat down on the left side of my bed, "Like my husband said, your labor has stopped which is a very good thing, but you've got to stay calm and Dr. Lindley has ordered you on bed rest until the baby's born. No work."

"Fine." I remembered why I was here and started to panic but calmed myself before I got another dose of loopy juice again. Last thing I needed was someone to pump my IV full of Propofol and I wind up sleeping until next week. I vaguely remembered someone telling me before I was sedated again in the ED that Nick was alive, but unconscious, "Nick?"

"Hasn't woken up yet. His mom and dad have been in and out since you got here. Nick's downstairs in the ICU. I just got off work half an hour ago and wanted to stop by to check on you before I left."

"Okay." At least Nick was alive. I started to wring my hands together and I saw my wedding ring was gone, "Where's my rings? My wedding ring and the engagement ring?"

"I've got them." Bryan pulled the collar of his shirt out just a little bit to reach a necklace he wore. Like most firefighters I knew, myself included, he wore a Maltese pendant around his neck, just under his shirt, "I have them both." He took the necklace off and shook my wedding rings off of it before handing them to me, "They had to cut CSI Man's off him, so I couldn't save that, but I did save yours on the way to the hospital and I held on to them."

I held the rings in my hand but didn't put them on right away, "Can I go see Nick now?" I saw Cathy and Bryan both exchange a glance, "Look, I know he's bad. That much I remember from my brief fit of hysteria before I was sedated. I just want to see him for a few minutes. I haven't seen him in three days." I slid my rings on my finger while I watched them mentally debate, "Please?"

Cathy stood up and sighed, "We both knew this was coming." She put her hand on Bryan's shoulder as she left the room, telling him to keep an eye on me and use any force necessary to keep me in bed, "I left him with a little milk of amnesia, but I hope you won't make him use it."

Propofol. The milky white medication we used to sedate patients in the field. I caught sight of the IV pole hanging next to my bed and the empty bag of magnesium hanging from it, "I won't." I put my hands across my middle, hoping to feel the baby kick, but she wasn't moving, "Is Leah okay?"

Bryan reached behind him and pulled out a binder that was on top of something just out of my sight, "According to this, he's fine."

He handed me the binder and I flipped through the fetal heart rate printouts, "Looks good. I missed a whole lot. What'd the docs say about me? About Nick?"

"You'll be fine. Thing will be fine as long as his mother stays in bed the next few months."

I noticed he didn't mention Nicky, "And my husband?"

"CSI Man…" Bryan trailed off and took my hand in his, "I don't know, Aggs."

It was hurting to keep my composure, but I also didn't want to be sedated again. I managed to choke out a plea to get Bryan to tell me what was going on, "Tell me."

"He's pretty bad. Like on a scale of one to ten, he's a seventy two. He's really bad. He's still sedated and unconscious. The biggest concern was organ or system failure from the ant venom. I would tell you if something happened to your husband. I'd give you the truth, straight up, no chasers."

"What have his docs said?"

"They don't know much other than it's a miracle he's alive. It's even got the CSI that is the bug guy, you know the one with the pickled pets in his office…"

I knew who he was referring to, "Grissom."

"Yeah, him. Apparently, he's some sort of bug expert and all and even he's baffled as to why Nick's still alive."

Cathy reappeared with Dr. Lindley and another doctor I didn't recognize, "I found your doc as well as the doc that has been treating Nick." Bryan handed the syringe full of Propofol back over to his wife, "And I appreciate the fact he didn't need to use milk of amnesia on you."

Nick's doctor took the seat next to Bryan and I braced myself for what he was about to tell me, "Anna, I'm Dr. Joshua Tripp and like Cathy said, I've been treating Nick since he got here."

"How is he?"

Dr. Tripp cast a sideways glance at Dr. Lindley who nodded her head ever so slightly. They were having a mental discussion about whether to tell me or not, "He's grave. His condition is extremely critical. I don't know what all you've been told, but Nick should not be alive. No one with that much venom in their veins survives, but he did. He's still alive and his rates have steadily improved since he's gotten here. I'm not comfortable weaning him off the sedatives just yet, but I feel confident that will come in the next few days."

"So…" I was trying to wrap my head around what was going on while still trying to remain as calm as possible. I tried to speak with a sense of calm but my voice cracked, "So, you're saying…"

"Look, I don't want to get your hopes up. There is still a great possibility he won't pull through this…" Dr. Tripp saw my face fall and corrected himself, "But if Nick stays on the recovery course he's on now, I feel confident that he will continue to improve and like I said, once I see enough of an improvement, we'll wean him off the sedatives and wake him up. Like you being sedated, it's what's best for his body right now. Ant venom can be a very tricky poison. It plays tricks on the mind as well as wreaks havoc on internal systems. Just like with you having to be sedated a few days ago when you were brought in to protect the fetus, sedating Nick is what's best for him." He stood up to leave, "I know Dr. Lindley wanted to look you over now that you're awake, so I'll excuse myself, but the front desk has my pager number if you need me or have any questions. Just keep positive that Nick will pull through this. He's got a large support system on his side not only from us here at Desert Palms, but also from you as well has his family."

"Thanks." I started to relax a little better, but the ' _great possibility he won't pull through this'_  kept weighing in on my mind.

Bryan excused himself while Dr. Lindley checked me out, but I made Cathy stay in the room with me and hold my hand. Last thing I wanted or needed was to be alone.

Half an hour later, and a few murmurs from Dr. Lindley, she pronounced the baby and me to be doing much better, but reinforced what she told Bryan about bed rest, "I mean it. No work. No play. Nothing. I want you on strict bed rest until closer to your due date, then we'll discuss delivery dates whether we need to move it around or do a c-section or something. I don't want to see or hear about you doing anything other than watching TV, sitting down or lying down. The only time you're to be up is bathroom duties, got it?"

She handed me the blanket and I tucked my feet back under, "Got it."

"Good. I'll be back in a little bit to come get you for some more tests, but until then, I've given your friend here permission to take you downstairs to see your husband for ten minutes. Got it? Ten minutes. Then I want you back in bed and if you don't comply, I'll sedate you again and forbid you from leaving this room."

"Okay."

"Anna, I mean it. Your body can not handle going through labor again. You don't know how close you came to losing this pregnancy. I don't mean to scare you, but sometimes, scared straight is the only way. Your nurse will follow you downstairs and bring you back up in the allotted time."

With the typical air of doctors, she let that be her last words before quietly shutting the door behind us. Cathy moved a wheelchair over towards the edge of the bed and said she was heading home to take a nap, but would be back up later on when her shift started, "Bryan will take you up to see Nick, but I expect you back in this bed in ten minutes."

"Ten minutes." I started to get nervous. This would be the first time I had seen Nick since this all happened, but ten minutes was better than what I had now.

Right on cue, the OB nurse who had been in the room with Dr. Lindley took hold of the IV pole while Bryan maneuvered the chair. While we were waiting on the elevator to get to my floor, she introduced herself as Stephanie and said she'd be with me until later on tonight. Reinforcing once again what Dr. Lindley said, Stephanie said I had exactly ten minutes then no questions asked, I was to be brought back to my room and put back in bed.

Not wanting to jeopardize the chance to see Nick, I agreed, "Is this the only time I'll be allowed to see him?"

The elevator dinged and Stephanie and Bryan stepped in, pulling me in with them, "I'll have to ask Dr. Lindley." She hit the button to the floor right below ours, "It's up to her but it'll also depend on how much this affects you. You've got to put your baby and this pregnancy first. From what I hear, you really neglected it."

I felt a pang of guilt over lying to everyone while I was at CSI. When asked if my labor stopped, I said that it had, but I lied. I think the only person who remotely had an idea about my labor was Bryan, but he let it slide and I know he was beating himself up over it all, "I was worried about my husband."

Stephanie put her hand on my shoulder, "I know you were, dear. I do need to warn you before you go in though." The elevator stopped and we got off and she continued, "He's pretty bad. The swelling from the ant venom has gone down some since he came in, but he's still pretty bad. If you need to leave, I understand and we'll take you back to your room."

"I'm a paramedic. I've seen worse." I tried to keep my voice steady but in reality, I was scared of seeing Nick like this. I took a deep breath as we entered into the hallway just outside of the first set of ICU rooms.

"He's in there." Bryan pointed to the second room on the left, "Cathy made sure to have him transferred to one of the rooms she works."

There were eight ICU pods on Nick's floor and as a general rule at Desert Palms, ICU nurses are assigned at maximum three patients at a time. Each pod was divided into four rooms, with the fourth room being overflow only. Bryan slowly pushed me past one room with an older woman in it and stopped when we got to Nick's room, "Are you ready?"

I slowly nodded my head as Stephanie opened the door.

Mom and dad were on Nick's right side and Catherine and Greg were on the left. Greg was sitting in the window while Catherine was leaned against the wall. They both stood up and hugged me when I came in, expressing their well wishes about my health and the health of Leah. I gave them and mom and dad a quick run down on what Dr. Lindley just said when she examined me a few minutes ago and got in return a collective sigh of relief from all in the room about the labor stopping.

Stephanie moved me closer to Nick, but warned me not to touch him just yet, "The venom is still in his system and I don't want anything hurting you or this baby. I'll be right outside if you need me." She checked her watch, "You've got eight minutes."

With that, she set the parking brake on the wheelchair and left me alone in the room. Bryan excused himself with Stephanie and said he'd be right outside if I needed him.

Mom and dad filled me in on what was going on with Nick, telling me the same thing that Dr. Tripp had earlier in the morning. She was upbeat and was confident Nicky would wake up soon, but I noticed dad was a little more reserved.

Before I knew it, Stephanie was back in the room and was telling me I had to go. Catherine said she'd stop by later on to bring me something and told me to rest and that everyone on the team was keeping an eye on Nicky in shifts so he'd never be alone. Mom and dad said they'd be back later to check on me as well.

I didn't want to leave Nick, even as bad as he looked. Stephanie had warned me that Nick's body was still swollen from the ant venom, but she didn't prepare me for what I saw. He had easily gained ten to twenty pounds of fluid from the swelling, which puffed out his face. His arms were covered in healing scabs from the ant bites and from where he scratched. Nick's face was swollen and red and looked almost unrecognizable. I closed my eyes as Stephanie wheeled me out of the room and remembered Nick the last time I saw him which helped.

Stephanie said she'd relay to Dr. Lindley that I handled the trip well and would see about taking me down later tonight, but in the mean time, told me to settle in bed and try to rest.

Even though I wasn't tired and it was the middle of the day, it didn't take long before I fell asleep.

**A/N: Sorry for the lack of Nick this chapter, but it's kinda hard when he's in a coma. He'll be back next chapter as will our mystery guest. A certain someone from the past comes to visit. Any idea who it is? Leave your guesses in your reply, which I hope to get lots of.**

**Speaking of Nick…anyone hear the rumors about George Eads _leaving_  CSI after this season? OH EM GEE. Apparently GE's contract is up this summer and with the McKeen storyline coming up, the writers are leaving it open so if GE doesn't return because of contract disputes, the Nick storyline is settled like the Langston ending was if you could even call that an ending.**


	42. Song to the Siren

**Chapter 42 – Song to the Siren**

**This was another one of those chapters I had all typed and ready to go but the more I read it, the more I wanted to just delete it and start over because it was too sappy and that's not where I want to go with this story – especially the parts after Nick gets discharged from the hospital. Our mystery guest signs in and enters after Anna's portion. I hope you like it. Remember to be kind.**

**Anna**

"He seems restless."

I made Mom shove my wheelchair closer to the bed, "I think he's dreaming." The swelling from the ant bites had finally started to go down and I was allowed to hold Nicky's hand while he was unconscious and I sighed as I watched him. Mom was right though about Nick being restless. His rates on the monitors were up a bit, but not enough to worry the ICU staff, but even they noticed from time to time, he seemed agitated, even while unconscious. Every now and again, he'd twitch or move ever so slightly, but the doctors wrote it off as a reflex since the paralytics had been stopped.

Even though he had a low grade fever from the wounds, the decision was made earlier this morning to wean Nicky off the paralytics and allow him to wake up from the coma but to double up on the antibiotics. It had been nine days since the incident and though I had been released from the hospital only this morning, it pacified Dr. Lindley that I would be close by so she could still stop by to check on me. I had been scheduled for weekly ultrasounds for the next month and if she was okay with the progress and me staying on bed rest, I'd likely be moved to ultrasounds every other week until Leah was born. She left specific instructions with the ICU staff that I was on bed rest and Cathy brought in a couch that folded out into a bed and I was confined to that or a wheelchair. I half expected Dr. Lindley to ask me to sign a contract in blood, but I knew I had to take care of myself from now on out. I was selfishly stupid for what I had done, but no one really seemed to blame me which only added in to the guilt. Even worse, I knew Nick would want to know what happened and I couldn't keep this from him.

Mom kept her vigil on my side of Nicky's bed while Dad and Jillian took up residence on the left side. Jillian had gotten here only a couple days before and had moved into my hospital room with me until I was released this morning. Catherine got Sam Braun to comp another room for Jillian and with Allison and Tyler coming up later on this week, another block of rooms on the VIP floor of the Tangiers were reserved for Nick's family. To my ultimate surprise, my mother called a couple times to check on Nick and me.

The doctors warned us after they stopped the paralytics that it could be another week before Nick regained consciousness. Countless MRIs and CT scans revealed nothing life threatening and his kidney and liver function tests had been slowly improving after the ant venom was flushed out of his system the first few days he was here. As another phlebotomist came in to draw blood, it occurred to me that the doctors had drawn so much blood in the past week that I'm surprised Nick had any left.

I had gotten bored of the TV and had Cathy bring my docking station for my iPhone up to the hospital room one evening and left it playing softly in the background. It kept the mood in the room at a comfortable level which no doubt helped Nick recover. It also kept me from going crazy.

 _Now if he'd just wake up_.

Doctors had long since perfected the art of being as precisely vague as possible and kept telling us "soon we hope" when any of us would ask when he'd wake up. At least now most of the time, most of Nick's physicians had quit saying  _if_  he wakes up and had started saying  _when_  he wakes up.

With assistance, I moved out of the wheelchair and went to lie back in the reclining couch that Cathy had brought in earlier to get more comfortable. Mom folded the wheelchair and moved it closer to the wall to get it out of the way as she reached for my hand, no doubt both of us having the same thoughts about Nick waking up.

**Nick**

The hallway was long, but brightly lit. Doors were on either side of me, each one of them having a single brass name plate with my name elegantly etched into the metal. "Anna?" I started to walk past doors that were closed as I came to one that was slightly ajar. Peering inside, I saw my sisters and me playing outside, near our barn. I was probably no older than ten and was covered in mud from head to toe.

The scene played on and I remembered what had happened as I watched. My brother and two of my friends ganged up on me and dumped me in the horse trough. To get back at them, I rolled around in the dirt to get muddy and chased them around the yard, pretending to be a swamp creature. I smiled to myself as the scene played out, but it stopped just after my mother got the garden hose out and was spraying me in the front yard as I danced around, having the time of my young life.

The lights in that room went off and the door began to close. I took a step back as another door opened and I stepped inside to view it. My high school graduation. A few of my friends and I had a bet about who could perform the dumbest stunt as we walked across the stage to get our diplomas. I chickened out and received mine as planned, but my best friend named Gregory Taylor was in line behind me and rather than follow my lead, he did a series of back flips across the stage before stopping to a thunderous applause from the audience and a nasty look from the administrative staff. I'm still surprised to this date that he even got his diploma after that stunt.

Just as with the first door, as soon as the scene played itself out, the lights went off and the door shut. I kept walking by more doors until one finally opened and I sobbed when I realized it was playing the scene of Anna and me meeting for the first time, right before my eyes. When the scene was done, the door tried to close on me and though I fought it, I couldn't keep it open and it shut. I tried to turn the doorknob to open the door up once again, but nothing happened.

"You can't go back, Nick."

The female voice was vaguely familiar, but I couldn't place it, "Anna?"

" _Don't be afraid to fall. I'm right here to catch you. I won't let you down. It won't get you down. You're gonna make it. Yeah, I know you can make it."_

Rather than hearing the voice call out to me again, I was hearing a song that was quite popular right now. It was on the radio some and I knew Anna loved it and had it on her phone and played it at home but I didn't get why I was hearing it now.

" _Cause_   _I will stand by you. I will help you through. When you've done all you can do and you can't cope, I will dry your eyes. I will fight your fight. I will hold you tight and I won't let go."_

"Anna?" As the singing stopped, I saw another door open, but I ignored it and kept on walking down the hallway. I could have sworn I had walked for miles, but I had no idea where I was going or where I was, "Anna, honey?"

"Keep walking, Nick. You'll find it."

"Find what?" I called out again to the mystery voice, but got nothing. Continuing to walk, I saw several more open doors, each playing a different scene from my life. The first time I told Anna I loved her. The first time I saw her after she went to Arkansas. The day I asked her to marry me. Our wedding. Her telling me she was pregnant. Her first ultrasound. Each door was a bright spot in my life and as I kept walking, I noticed that none of the doors showed anything bad that ever happened.

"That's because you won't find that here."

That voice again. Not only was it coming from nowhere, it also seemed to be reading my mind, "That's because I am. Keep walking, please."

Finally reaching the end of the hallway, the final door was slightly ajar and as I stepped through it, I was out in the bright sunshine. I had to blink several times to clear my vision and as it did, I noticed I was standing in grass. I was barefoot and rather than being covered in ant bites like I was when I was rescued, I was healed. Not a single ant bite was on my body and I felt fine, but was still confused as to what was going on, "Anna?"

The one strange thing I noticed was I seemed to be glowing but I still didn't see Anna and that mystery voice that kept talking to me in the hallway was nowhere to be found, "Anna? Where are you? Are you okay?"

"She's not here, Nick." My head turned when I recognized the voice but couldn't place it. The scenery around me became clearer as I started to look around, trying to find out who spoke to me. I saw a house behind me and instantly I was suddenly inside it, but just as it was before, it took a moment for my vision to clear before I realized where I was.

I started towards the voice and as I did, my vision finally cleared up enough that I realized that I was back hone in Texas inside my parents' house. Looking out the windows, the trees in the front yard were in full bloom and the flower beds in front of the porch were bright with multi colored flowers. "Anna's not here with you right now but I am. I was sent to meet you."

"Then where is she?" I was still speaking to the shadows. "And who is this? I know your voice, but I can't place it." A shadowy figure was slowly approaching me. It wasn't until she got about ten feet in front of me that it was clear enough for me to make out who it was. "Kristy? Kristy Hopkins?"

She smiled, "You remember me."

"This isn't real. This just can't be real."

"It is as real as you want to make it. Oh, and hi, Nick. Don't want to forget my manners or anything." Kristy pulled me into a hug. "How are you?"

"Am I dead?" I looked around, trying to find anything that would clue me in as to what was going on. "It's so bright here."

Kristy smiled, "No, you're not dead, or at least not yet. Things can change in the blink of an eye but I bet you knew that already."

"Where am I exactly? I know I'm in Texas at mom and dad's but..." I kept looking around, taking everything in, "Is this Heaven?" I glanced around the house remembering the furniture and everything inside, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. "Heaven is Texas?"

"Well, not exactly Heaven." Kristy looked confused as she tried to explain where I was, "It's not Heaven proper."

"I died and went to a suburb of Heaven?"

"You're not dead, Nick. Not yet. This is a place where you go to wait until something is decided. For you, that place is here. Think of this more like Heaven's waiting room. This is where you go until a decision is made on your fate. You're in a coma and more often than science wants to admit, people have experiences while they're out. You're seeing me in yours."

"I see. So…" I started to think about the lab at work and in a flash, Kristy was beside me, holding on to my forearm. A bright light flashed before us and when it cleared, I was standing inside Grissom's office, but the lab was completely empty. Not a single person was here, "Hello?"

"They're not here, Nick." Kristy let go of my arm and went to play with something on Grissom's desk, "This is just a vision, nothing more."

"So how did I get here?"

Kristy smiled, "My guess is you thought about it. All you have to do is think about where you want to be and you're there but if you want me to go with you, you have to hold on to me otherwise I'll be left behind."

This was just too surreal. I was taught in school about Heaven with angels and harps and floating clouds, but nothing prepared me for this. Just to test Kristy's theory, I took her hand in mine and thought about the Longhorns Stadium and with a bright flash of light, I was sitting in the same seats that Anna and I sat in at the game we attended with my parents.

Kristy had obviously been used to this and was letting me have my fun, "Pretty neat, huh? You think about where you want to go and you're there."

An idea hit me and after making sure I still had hold of Kristy's hand, I thought about my hospital room, but nothing happened. Concentrating again, I felt her drop my hand as she sighed, "You can't go there, Nick. I already told you that."

"Fine." Before I started thinking again, Kristy took my hand as I finally settled on my parents' house and as soon as I made the decision, the bright light hit us, followed by a moment of blurry vision before it cleared and we were once again back where we started, "That's so…"

"Neat? I like it. People still use trains and cars, but that's my favorite way to travel. That's all it takes."

"I wish everything in life was that easy. Just think about it and you could get there."

"Where's the fun in that?" Kristy was teasing me as she bumped my shoulder with hers, "Life's not meant to be easy, Nick. If it was, imagine how boring it'd be."

I sighed, "Yeah, I suppose, but if that was the case, I wouldn't be here. I'd be with Anna." Not really having a better explanation, I started to walk around the room, remembering everything that was just as it had been. My mother wasn't big on change and preferred to keep things how they were and I didn't blame her. If it wasn't broken, why fix it. "So, now what? How do I get back to Anna?"

Kristy left my side and went to check out the photos my mother had nailed to the wall in the den. She had added a copy of a sonogram that we mailed her to the section underneath my wedding photos. I smiled at the grainy image on the wall and wondered if I'd ever get back home, "I don't know if I can help you with that or not, Nick. All I know is I was sent here to wait on you and guide you along until something happens."

I hated how Kristy didn't go into specifics, but I knew what she meant. She didn't want to say "If you died or not" but I knew what she was trying to say.

"Come on. I want to show you something." Taking my hand in hers, I was met with another blinding light and when my vision cleared, I was standing in front of a two story Tudor style house with peeling paint, "I wanted to show you this."

I tried to think if I knew the house from either work or my personal life, but was coming up blank, "It's my childhood home, Nick. I wasn't always the woman you remembered me as. This is where I grew up." She took me by the hand and led me inside a tastefully decorated house and showed me her old bedroom and pictures that her mother still had on the walls, "My mother died a couple years after I did. I was able to meet her up here also."

"Who met you?"

"My brother." Kristy motioned to a photo on the wall of a young child, probably no older than sixteen, "He died when I was about ten. He had a rare form of leukemia that kept coming back. He'd go into remission for a year or so at a time but by the time he was seventeen, he just couldn't take it any more and Robert died a few months later. My family wasn't the same afterwards. My dad split when I was born, and after Robbie died, it was just my mom and me. She turned to alcohol which led to me moving out when I was sixteen and, well, you know the rest."

Kristy led me around her house for a few moments later before we teleported or whatever it was we were doing, to a few more places before finally coming back once again to my parents. We wound up only a few feet away from the wall where my wedding picture hung, "Tell me about Anna."

"I know she needs me and I have to get home." Looking around, there was no door, "How do I get back to her?"

"I don't know Nick. If it's meant to be, you'll find a way. Now tell me about Anna."

"I just wish I knew how she was doing."

"That I can help you with." Kristy stood up and moved towards the front of my parents' house. She glanced out a window before motioning for me to come up behind her, "There are windows up here that let us check in on people we loved or cared about. This one is Anna's and the one next to it is yours. She's asleep."

Rather than looking out at the street, I had a direct view into a hospital room. I saw Anna lying on a hospital bed with a monitor next to her but something just didn't set well with me, "Something's wrong with her." I turned to Kristy, "What's wrong? You seem to have all the answers."

I was met with a shoulder shrug, "I don't know, but she's in good hands."

I tried to touch the pane of glass, but it rippled under my touch, like touching water in a pond, "How much longer do you think I'll be here?"

"Why?" Kristy looked hurt, "Getting tired of me already?"

"No, quite the opposite actually." I realized that when I went back to Anna, I'd likely never see Kristy again, "I've missed you but…"

Kristy teared up, "I know, Nick. Anna needs you." She stared at Anna's form in the window, "I've missed you too." She stirred in her sleep, but not enough to wake up, but the blanket covering her body slipped off, revealing to us that she was still pregnant, "Congratulations, by the way. Married and have a baby on the way."

"Baby." I took a step back from the window as Kristy continued to watch Anna sleeping. I let my eyes drift over to another window and saw a view into my hospital room. My parents were on one side of my bed with Grissom next to them. Greg, Warrick and Sara were standing at the foot of my bed with Catherine on the opposite side from Grissom and my parents. I had more wires and tubes coming out of my body than any normal human being should, "Am I…"

"Alive, yes. You're in a coma. I told you this earlier."

"Is this what happens?"

"This is what happens to you. It's different for everyone."

My team and my parents kept their vigil on me as I continued to watch both my window and Anna's window. Bryan had come in at some point in time and was sleeping in a reclining chair next to Anna's bed and I felt a little bit better knowing she wasn't entirely alone, but I wanted nothing more than to be with her again. "I've lost the ability to distinguish between getting my feet wet in a puddle and being part of the Poseidon adventure."

Not really having an answer, Kristy and I watched through the window as Cathy silently entered into the ICU room. Even though I was wherever I was, I was glad she was taking care of me. After she fixed an IV and pulled a printout off of the monitor next to my bed, she carefully laid a white cotton blanket across my legs. Kristy smiled as she turned back to Anna's window. Just like in my room, a nurse was in Anna's room checking on her, "I like her, Nick. I don't even know her and I like her. She makes you happy."

"I told her on our first anniversary that she's given me a life I could have never imagined." I tried to touch the pane of glass again, but once again, it rippled underneath my touch, "Can I please go home now? She needs me and I can't be dead." I felt a crying bout coming on, but I choked it back. Hysterics wouldn't help me right now, "How do I get out of here?" I started towards the front door to my parents' house but there was no door knob. "I can't get out."

"No, you can't and there isn't a door knob just yet. You're up here because you have to wait until the decision has been made. Once it has, you'll be sent back if that's what's been decided or I'll take you with me like I did my mother and my brother did to me."

"I promised I wouldn't leave her." I watched Anna through the window, aching to touch her, but I couldn't. "That was the only thing that kept me alive when I was…"

"Buried?"

I had to swallow the rising lump in my throat to answer Kristy's question. "Yes, when I was buried alive in that Plexiglas box. If it wasn't for Anna and the promise I made to her when we got married, I would have given up. I would have…"

"Nick, stop." Kristy grabbed my shoulder and pulled me towards her and stood behind me as she made me look into the window once again. "Do you see that?"

Anna hadn't moved since the nurse left her room. I watched her sleep as I tried to figure out what Kristy wanted me to see. "I do this all the time when she's at home. I watch her sleep. You know you love someone when you sit up just to watch someone sleep and I have no idea why I do it, but I do." I tried to touch Anna's form in the window, but when I touched it, the glass panes rippled once again, "What do I need to see?"

"I don't know, Nick. This is your life, not mine. I can't tell you why you're here or what you need to see or what you need to do before everything is finalized. All I do know is that once you see it, you'll know what to do after."

My head was beginning to spin, "But you're dead, right?"

"Yes."

"And you were sent here to meet me? Why? I just don't get it, that of all the people in my past, why you? I mean, no offense, but I've got grandparents up here and friends and other relatives. Not that I'm mad it's you, I'm just wondering why."

"I don't know. I got a request to meet you and I did. Are you upset?"

I shook my head, "No, no. Quite the opposite. Like I said, I've missed you and I'm thankful I get to see you again even if it is…Wherever it is I am."

Kristy shrugged her shoulders, "I was just given orders to meet you here when you arrived. I don't know what it is you're supposed to realize or understand. I'm just here to help you find what you need since I was your friend." She took my hand in hers. "Come on. This way." In an instant, a bright light flashed and the scenery changed and I was no longer inside my parents' house, but now I was staring at the pasture where our barn was. "I never get tired of traveling this way."

"But I didn't think this."

"I did." She led me closer to the empty barn. Dust particles floated in the air, catching the sunlight as they floated downwards, "I like barns."

"I didn't know that about you."

Kristy kicked at a rock in the center hallway, "No, you didn't." She seemed to be mentally debating about something before she finally spoke, "Do you think that if I didn't…that we could have…"

I knew what she was trying to ask me, "I thought about that actually and I would have hoped so. I think I would have had to leave Vegas with you, but yes."

We fell into a comfortable silence as she led me around my parents' property. "It seems like a lifetime ago that I knew you. How long has it been since you, uh, died?"

"I don't know. There is no time up here." I watched as Kristy let go of my hand and stepped to the side of the barn and took a seat in a swing that was tied to a tree. "You tell me. How long has it been?"

"I, um…a tree swing?" I lost my thoughts as a smile spread across Kristy's face as she sat down and started to swing. I realized that once again I was picturing the tree swing on the very tree that we were using, "Wait a minute. We had a tree swing as children until Allison flipped out of it and broke her arm. Mom made us get rid of it."

"Yes. You remember." As soon as she spoke, a second swing appeared, "I love tree swings so pull up a swing. Anything you want can happen up here. I knew you had a tree swing as a child so here it is." She started to sway gently back and forth, "Tell me what's new with you since I died. Obviously, you got married. I see that. How'd you meet her?"

I sat down in the swing next to Kristy. "This is all so surreal. Is this what happens when you die?"

Kristy said nothing and instead, started to kick her legs until she was swinging back and forth a little faster than she was before. "I don't know, Nick. I couldn't answer your questions because I don't know the answer to them. I know what happened when I died, but I don't know if this is what it's like when you die or if you're going to die. Right now, I don't know anything. I've told you all I know. Now tell me about Anna. I want to know about her."

"Anna." I sat down on the swing next to Kristy. I couldn't say anything right away. My mind couldn't process what was going on around me.

I was allowed to stay silent as she started to swing higher but slowed herself down when I didn't say anything else. "Tell me about Anna. Maybe what you need to realize before you can go back has something to do with her and that's why I'm here?"

I kicked at the dirt underneath the swing as I planted my left foot in the ground to shove off of so I could start to gently sway back and forth. "Anna. Where do I begin? Anna and I have been through a lot. She's my best friend. She's my wife. She's the mother of our unborn baby and I couldn't live my life without her. I almost lost her twice and I was lucky to get her back. I still get butterflies every time I see her."

"Don't lose the butterflies. That's the thing about getting older. You lose the butterflies." Kristy leaned back in the swing and kicked at the ground before she said anything, "What happened?"

"Anna saved my life." I pushed off of my foot again and started to swing harder as Kristy picked up speed next to me. "I had a stalker. Anna and I both did I guess you could say. He wanted to kill Anna because..." I started to look around, "He's not here is he?"

"Nigel Crane?"

"Yeah."

Kristy shook her head, "You won't see anyone up here you wouldn't want to see if you were still alive. The only reason you see me now is because you wanted to see me after I died but that doesn't mean he's not up here. For you, it does mean you won't see him unless you want to but in order for you to see someone, both of you want to be able to see each other."

"So...that means what?"

"In a nutshell, it means if you don't want to see him, you won't ever see him. So as long as you don't want to see him, it'll never happen for as long as you're up here. Now continue, please."

"Okay." I drew in a deep breath and started again, "According to what I was told after the fact, he blamed her for what I did to him. He said I ignored him. I didn't even remember anything about him until it was almost too late. You know, we meet people day in and day out and it's confusing."

"How so?" Kristy leaned back in the swing as she started to swing higher. "What's confusing?"

"She got shot because of how he said I ignored him. He blamed Anna for my actions. Because of me, I met someone who stalked me and became obsessed with my life and he tried to kill Anna."

"And?"

I sighed and kicked the dirt once more, planting my foot in so I could shove off and start to swing again, "If there's one thing that the whole stalker incident taught me, it's that I needed to rethink who I consider important. Who are we supposed to pay attention to? Who is important and who isn't? This man thought I was important and he was angry with me for not returning the feelings. He thought we were best of friends after that day and I brushed him off. That day, Anna was sick and I was busy with work and he was there to install my cable and when he left, I didn't even remember his name. Couple months later, Anna and I had gone out and when we came back home for something, he shot her and tried to kill me." I stopped swinging as I looked at the dirt under me. "I thought she was dead, but she wasn't. Anna shot and killed him and saved my life."

"And that's why she left?"

I shook my head as I ran my hands up and down the chains of the swing. "Partly. Anna was in the hospital for a while after she got shot. She almost died on me twice. I remember being in my apartment and holding her in my arms after she shot him and saved my life and she started to die in my arms. I was helpless. Anna was dying in front of me and I couldn't do anything to save her. I didn't realize that I was supposed to remember this man. This man was so insignificant in my life that I didn't even remember his name until my supervisor called me and warned me about what was going on minutes before he came out and shot Anna. That's the part that confuses me. If someone like that demands that I pay attention to him, then what about the other people that come and go? What about the customer service rep on the phone? What about the mail man? What about the guy that sacks my groceries at the store?"

"Good points. Is that all?"

"I don't know." I started to swing a little bit higher. "I learned that everyone has a breaking point that night. I also learned that no matter how hard I try, I can't help it when I'm feeling helpless. I felt helpless that night and that's a feeling I never wanted to feel again. I was watching the woman I loved die in my arms and I couldn't do anything. All the CSIs have basic first aid skills, but that's it. I know how to put a Band-Aid on and how to apply a tourniquet, but that's all. Anna was dying in my arms and I couldn't do anything. Anna has the medical training, not me, and I felt helpless." I looked over at Kristy when she stopped swinging. "I never wanted to feel like that again, but I did when I was buried. I learned my breaking point that night. I learned I could end my own life and almost did. I can't believe I was that close to..."

Kristy stopped swinging, "Helplessness is never a pleasant thing no matter what situation you're in."

"No. It's not. I felt the same feelings again when I was…" I was having a hard time saying the words. "I was helpless when I was in that Plexiglas coffin. I couldn't do anything. I was trapped and that is by far one of the worst feelings in the world. I was slowly dying and I couldn't do anything about it except panic. I came close to…" I couldn't say what I was about to. Not in front of Kristy. "I can't."

"Say it, Nick."

I leaned back in the swing and gripped the chains tighter with my hands. "He put a gun and a tape recorder in the box with me along with some of those plastic glow sticks. You know the ones you have to break and shake to make them light up?" Kristy nodded and I continued as she started put her arms around the chains and started to swing slow enough to keep her feet on the ground. "Anyway, I found the tape recorder first and listened to the tape. I heard those words that he told me repeating over and over while I was buried. 'You're going to die tonight.' That was the last thing he said to me on the tape before he laughed. 'Breathe fast, breathe slow. It doesn't matter because you're going to die tonight.' I didn't know whether to be angry or panicked or what. I didn't know how much I could take. Have you ever known you were going to die and known that there was nothing you could do about it?"

"Yes. That was the last feeling I felt before I died."

"Damn." I slapped my hand to my mouth, "Can I say that up here?"

"Yes, you can. This isn't parochial school, Nick."

"I forgot you're dead for a minute. You're just so real to me." I started to swing again as I took in what Kristy said. "I swore on my life that I'd never abandon Anna. I told her I'd never leave her and I almost did. I was in so much pain from the ant bites and I was hot and couldn't breathe. I recorded a goodbye note for Anna and for my parents and co-workers on the tape and I was about to…" I had to stop as I started crying. "I couldn't do it anymore. My hopes of being found alive were gone. I was about to kill myself. I was determined to end my life."

"Nick, sometimes that determination is a liability rather than an asset. I can't imagine being in that situation. I wasn't the one trapped in a Plexiglas state of hell and having to make that choice but you didn't."

"No." I used the sleeve of the shirt I had on to wipe the tears. "I can't believe I'm crying in Heaven or wherever I am." I composed myself and continued, "I was about to pull the trigger when I saw a flash of light above me. At first, I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me due to a lack of oxygen and the venom, but it flashed again. My co-worker was on top of the box, pushing the dirt away from the lid. When I heard him call out to me, at first, I thought it was a cruel joke. I didn't realize what was going on at first until he saw the gun in my hand and I panicked. I panicked again when he got off the box and my supervisor got on. It wasn't until he called me a nickname my dad used to call me that I stopped and listened."

"Pancho."

"How did you know that?" I froze in disbelief. I knew I had never told Kristy my nickname that my father used for me. "How?"

Kristy shook her head, "We know what we need to know up here. Go on."

I exhaled sharply, "Anyway, I started to hit on the lid of the box, begging for him to take it off. It took me a few moments to realize that he was telling me that of all things, the guy that kidnapped me had planted explosives under the box and if I tried to get out, I'd be blown up. Grissom said he was going to take the lid of the box off and put dirt in the coffin to displace the weight and yank me out but I had to stay still. I could barely hear anything but I think I said yes. Next thing I know, I'm being covered by dirt and I felt myself being yanked out of that box. I couldn't breathe. I heard Anna screaming at me. I tried to find her, but I couldn't focus but she kept screaming at me. Someone finally told her I was okay and she stopped screaming. I started begging for her to come to me, but Grissom told me she couldn't. I remember someone loading me into the back of an ambulance and as the doors closed, someone said Anna kept saying how much she loved me."

"And now you're here with me."

"And I don't know what I need to do to get back to Anna. I just know I can't live without her. Ever. I almost made the most horrific mistake I could have ever made, but I was saved just in time. I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to her in every way a human can."

"Maybe you need to see someone? Someone you don't want to acknowledge?"

I knew exactly who she was talking about, "No." I shook my head and stood up, "No. I don't want to see him. Why would I want to?"

"I don't know. This is your life, not mine."

I sighed, "Is that how I'll be able to go back home? To Anna?"

"Perhaps." Kristy started to sway gently back and forth in the tree swing, "I can't answer the questions for you, Nick. I don't know."

I really didn't want to face that man. I also wanted to get back home to Anna, but my instinct was telling me one had nothing to do with the other. I just knew that no matter what, I'd never take life for granted again. It was cheesy and it had been said a hundred times before, but I knew now what it meant. The whole 'stop and smell the roses' saying made sense now. I came dangerously close to losing everything. My life. My family. My wife. Everything, "I get it now. Am I supposed to realize what I almost lost? How stupid I was?"

"Nick, I think that you just solved your own problem." Kristy motioned to the door to my parents' house. It was slightly ajar, "Time to go home. You're waking up."

"Kristy, I…" I glanced over at the door, but couldn't stay focused on it for long. I hadn't seen Kristy in years and now I had to leave her again, "What do I do?"

"You go through that door and back to Anna and back to your daughter."

"Daughter? Anna and I don't know the gender of our baby. Every time she went in for an ultrasound, the baby would move around to where it was mooning us." I started to laugh, "The baby was teasing us."

We started walking to the door when Kristy stopped in front of the window. "I know that it's a girl, Nick. See?" She moved out of the way and as we looked in the living room window again, rather than the image of Anna asleep in her hospital room or me in mine, it was replaced by a sleeping infant in dark wood crib. Kristy looked at me, "She's beautiful."

I stared in awe as I watched a view of my daughter who was sound asleep in the room Anna and I had partially set up and painted for her. It still wasn't complete but up here, it was, "This is…" I faded off as I watched as she let out a little yawn and brought her arms close to her chest. She was wearing an outfit that Catherine had given us at Anna's baby shower. It was the onside she had printed up and the baby was wearing the pink one. I remember when Anna showed it to me after the baby shower. "A co-worker of mine bought that shirt for the baby. She bought us two, one in pink and one in blue, since we didn't know the baby's sex."

"See." Kristy smiled as the door started to open but she could tell I was still hesitant about moving through it. "Nick, I know you're torn about what to do about staying here or going back, but now is not your time. You've got someone to take care of you and soon, you'll have someone to take care of." She stopped and smiled again, "Oh, and August seventeenth is my birthday. Keep that date open, okay?"

Another cryptic message, "Why?"

As soon as I asked, I knew I wouldn't get a clear message from Kristy as to what it meant, "I don't know but something tells me you'll do something that day."

I chuckled to myself, "Maybe that's the day Anna and I will settle on a name. We can't decide on one."

"You'll get a sign."

"A sign?"

Kristy nodded, "You'll get a sign and that'll settle the name problem. Just keep a look out for the sign. You'll know it when you see it."

I started to get light headed again. "How do you know all this?"

"I just do. It's one of those things we know up here." Kristy pulled me into a hug and even though I was going back to be with Anna, she was a part of my past that I didn't want to forget and I didn't want to let her go. "You were one of the best things that ever happened to me. I know I didn't know you that long and we didn't meet under the best of circumstances, but you were special to me." She released me from the hug as she took a step back. "Nick?"

"Yeah?"

"My favorite flowers are pink tulips. Thank you for what you've been doing for me since I died. You still are a very important part of who I was and I'll miss you every day. I want you to stay but I know you can't and that you need to go home to Anna and to your daughter." She took another step back as she started to fade even more, "Goodbye, Nick."

I took a step back from Kristy and watched as she faded off completely. As I waved goodbye, her form was soon replaced with Anna's. "Anna?" I reached out to the form in my visions as it slowly went to black. "No, no. Anna, please. Anna?"

"Nicky?" Foggy, quiet voices were floating around near me, "Nicky? Honey?"

_Wake up!_

My brain was fighting with my body. I finally felt my body start to win and opened my eyes. With my vision blurry, I could make out two forms in front of me, one with dark red curly hair, "An…" I couldn't get the name out, but I knew who it was. My voice was hoarse from not being used, "A…"

"Oh, God. Nick?" Anna was quiet as I felt her lift up one of my hands, "Go get Mom and Dad. They're in the cafeteria."

I couldn't see who Anna was talking to, but she never left my side, "Nicky?"

I continued my fight with consciousness until my vision began to clear a little bit more, "Anna." My throat was parched dry and it felt like I had swallowed an entire dump truck full of sand, "My Anna."

I heard Anna make a sound that was a cross between a sob and a sigh, "Yes. I'm your Anna."

"Nicholas?" I heard my mother's voice, "Nicholas?"

"Mom." I was starting to regain most of my sight. Anna was now in clear view to my right with my parents to my left and some woman I had never seen before in my life was standing at the foot of my bed, "Dad."

My mother took my hand, "Nicholas."

I looked at them through eyes barely focused until I blinked a few times to get my vision back. "Hey." I don't know what medications I had flowing through my veins, but whatever it was made me loopy to the point of being almost drunk.

"Everything's okay, son." My father appeared next to my mother, "You'll be just fine. You had us worried there for a while."

I slowly looked around my room. I was obviously at Desert Palms and had been here a while given the recliner in the corner that was stretched out into a bed. Anna was wearing surgical scrubs which I found a bit odd, but my muscles were protesting from being in the same position for an extended period of time so I didn't question her choice of apparel, "Can I sit up a bit? How long have I been here?"

"Sure you can and you've been in the ICU at Desert Palms for a little over a week." The woman I didn't know adjusted the bed for me so that I wasn't lying down flat anymore. "Muscle cramps, right?" I nodded. "How's that?"

"Better." I cleared my throat, trying to get rid of the Sahara Desert that had taken up residence, "Can I get some water?" I settled back in the pillow closed my eyes again as I tightened my hold on Anna's hand.

"Sure." The strange woman excused herself and left the room.

I opened my eyes when I heard the door click shut behind her, "Who's she?"

"That's Angie. She's Cathy's relief. Cathy has been taking care of you at night then she comes in at seven to relieve Cathy." Anna sat down on the edge of my bed, "I love you, Nicky."

"Love you too." I was still far too stiff to hug Anna like I desperately wanted, but was relieved when Angie came in with some water in a clear, plastic cup and I drank all of it quickly, "God that tastes good." When I finished the cup, she said she'd bring in some more for me in just a bit. "How's Thing?"

Anna put one of my hands across her middle, "Kicking up a storm right now. We're both doing fine now."

I noticed my mother shook her head at Anna who nodded slightly and didn't say anything else. I was too drunk from the medications to care, but made a mental note to ask later what that meant.

Anna was able to stay with me another couple of hours before my father told her she needed to rest and reluctantly she left my side to go back to her room at the Tangiers. My mother took her place next to my bed while my father excused himself to call my sisters and Tyler to tell them I was awake, "Mom, what's wrong with Anna?"

My mother shook her head, "She's fine."

"Yeah, I got that already, but why was she in the hospital? I saw the arm band she was wearing."

"Nicholas…" My mother trailed off, unsure how to tell me why Anna was here. She put her hand on my cheek and ran her fingers through my hair before picking up my hand, "There's not an easy way to say this, but she went into premature labor." The look on my face must have been horrific because my mother corrected her statement, "She went into premature labor, but the doctors stopped it. She's on strict bed rest until my grandson is born. Her doctor has let her come down here a few times a day for about half an hour at a time but after that, she has to go and rest."

I relaxed a bit hearing the labor had stopped, but it sent chill bumps down my body knowing why Anna went into labor in the first place, "What happened?"

"You need your rest, Nicholas."

"Mom, I need to know what happened. Was Anna in any danger? Did anyone hurt her?"

"No." She sighed, "Anna was at the lab the entire time after you were taken. I think it was Catherine and the sheriff who went to get her. She was taken straight to the CSI lab and was kept under observation by her friend and several officers. After your co-workers found out where you were, she followed them to the nursery and passed out. Her friend brought her here and after being sedated for a bit and given medication to stop the labor, her labor stopped and she's fine. I went with her to an ultrasound a day or so ago, just before you were extubated and the sedatives were stopped. You woke up a day and a half later." My mother reached over for her purse and fished around until she found what she wanted, "See."

She had handed me an ultrasound photo. I smiled and ran my fingers over the 4D photo. I could clearly make out the baby's features. It was almost like an actual photograph of him was in my hands, "So, it's a boy?" I really didn't want to tell my own mother what Kristy had told me. I'd likely be put back in a coma due to delusions.

"I don't know, Nicholas. She's carrying up high like Allison did with hers, which is why I think it's a boy and I spoke with Anna's physician who also believes it is a boy from an earlier visit. Either way, Anna's physician says she and the baby are doing great and will continue to do fine as long as she stays on bed rest."

My mother kept the conversation light and airy. My father came in after telling the rest of the family I was doing much better. I was brought soup for dinner and though I wasn't very hungry, I did manage to down half the bowl. Catherine and Grissom stopped by for a bit after my parents left to go back to their hotel room to get some sleep. Catherine elected herself to stay the night with me and though I tried to protest that I didn't need anyone here, it was comforting to know I wasn't alone.

Anna was able to come over for another hour long visit and after she left, it didn't take long before I was out once again with her telling me she loved me was the last thing I heard.

" _Shit." I hit my face again on the top of the coffin and immediately grabbed my nose to try to stop the pain, but it was a futile attempt._

As I thrashed and screamed, the confines were closing in on me and the ants continued to swarm over me, biting as they went. The pain was unbearable and I screamed, but that just antagonized them to bite me even harder. I clawed at the top, trying to find some way out of my own personal brand of hell. I heard voices above me, but with the pain from the ants, I couldn't hear them clearly. The voices disappeared but were replaced with a face that was swimming before me. "Get me out of here!"

"Nicky!"

_I heard someone beating on something and when I blinked, the vision of me trapped was replaced with Anna. I could see Anna in my place, fighting to get free. She continued to thrash, this time pushing on the sides of the coffin, knowing that she had to get out and had to get away from the ants. "Nicky, help me!"_

My eyes suddenly shot open and my breathing was rapid and as I began to recognize my surroundings. I was still in the ICU at Desert Palms but couldn't figure out why my hand was hurting. It wasn't until I realized that I had a death grip the bed rail that I let go and began to panic, "Anna!"

"Nick?" A hand reached out and touched my forearm, "Nick, calm down."

I started to fight with whoever it was next to me, "I want Anna!" Looking over, I realized it was Catherine, who was still about half asleep. She tossed the blanket she was using to the floor and stood up, sitting on the edge of my bed as the door to my hospital room opened, "Anna!"

"Nick?" Catherine tried to hug me, but I shook her off, "Nick, Anna is at the hotel resting. She's fine. Your parents also went to the hotel to get some rest. I told them I'd stay with you."

I shook my head, unable to get the visions of her in that coffin out of my head, "I want to see her." I tried to get out of bed, but another stronger set of hands was holding me back against the pillow, "I have to go see her or bring her to me. I have to know she's okay."

"Nick…" Catherine trailed off as she looked up at someone on my left side, "Just go back to sleep."

The aching feeling that something was wrong sent a surge throughout my body. Every appendage it passed began to sting and pulse furiously. It was like hitting a funny bone ten times in a row, but this was not isolated. My whole body felt the repercussions of my thoughts. I gripped the edge of the bed rail as the pulsating pain overwhelmed me. I realized then that I had just crossed the line from normal into paranoia and with that, I felt a stream of medication hit me and before I could argue, I was surrounded by darkness once again.

"Why the hell didn't you come get me?"

"Because you're on bed rest." The first voice was Anna's and the second I realized was Catherine's as she continued to speak, "I didn't want to upset you."

I heard an exasperated scoff, "Yeah I am, but I can sit down next to him and comfort him. Damn it, he wanted me. Me!"

Catherine sighed, "But the baby…"

"Anna?" The medication was finally wearing off enough and I was able to ignore the parched feeling in my throat as my vision began to clear, "An…?"

"Nicky?" I felt the weight of her body on the mattress of my bed as she rested her hand across my stomach, "I'm fine."

Without warning, I sat upright in my bed and brought Anna into a hug, holding on to her as tightly as I could, not wanting to let her go, "No one would get you." My IV line was tangled on the bed rail and with one pull, it came free with a pinch as it came out of my hand, allowing me to hold on to Anna even tighter, "I tried to leave, but someone drugged me. I didn't know what to think…"

When I started to sob, Anna shoved herself back from me and turned around to face Catherine and Grissom, "Out. Now."

The two of them turned and left, taking their time in doing so. When the door finally closed, Anna hugged me back and held me as I cried into her shirt. I felt her pressing against my body, warm and yielding. I bent my head, letting my lips glide through her hair. Her answering sigh was like music, "I thought…My dream…"

"Sssshhh…" She reached behind me and turned off the flow of the IV as she tightened her hold on my neck as I sobbed uncontrollably. I felt her running her fingernails through my hair in an attempt to comfort me, "I'm fine, Nicky. Leah's fine. I'm fine. It's okay." With a gentle rocking motion, she continued to comfort me as I soaked the scrub top she had on, "Nothing happened to me or the baby. We're both fine though Catherine may not be when I'm done."

I finally loosened my grip on Anna as she let her hands fall to my lap. I reached out and touched her hand, sighing as she immediately took my hands in hers and held on for dear life, "Why?"

"She should have come to get me last night. Mom and dad convinced me to go with them back to the Tangiers to get some sleep and I knew I should have stayed here with you."

With Anna's insistence, I sank back in the bed as she pulled a recliner over and stretched out next to me, never once letting go of my hand. With my protests about being on bed rest, I did let her restart my IV before the ICU team got mad at me for overreacting. I finally relented when she told me she could sit down and start an IV since she was usually sitting or lying down in the field when she started them at work. Since she couldn't move very well in the chair, I propped some pillows behind me and rolled over on my side as much as I could to face her, "You're okay?"

"Fine. Pissed off at them for not coming to get me, but I'm fine."

"I'm sorry, Anna." I felt so helpless that I couldn't have a normal night's sleep. Ever since I woke up, the dreams had been the same. Gone were the images of Kristy Hopkins and Heaven, or wherever it was that I met her, having been replaced by that damn coffin and the ants. I felt goose bumps on my arms and went to rub them, but felt only the sharp scabs from the ant bites. My smooth skin from the dream was a thing of the past.

"It's okay, Nick." Anna reached out to touch my arm again and caught my hand instead. She gave it an encouraging squeeze as she tried to comfort me, "You've been through hell and back and you can't expect things to be fine overnight."

It struck me as odd as to why Anna was down here. Ever since I woke up, she had been in and out in short visits, but given the blanket lying over the arm of the recliner, she had evidently been here a while. I knew she had been released, but Dr. Lindley still wasn't comfortable with her being with me for longer than an hour or so at a time. She wanted Anna resting as much as possible and I for one agreed with her even though I wanted nothing more than Anna here with me, "How long have you been here?"

"About three hours."

"And Dr. Lindley is okay with it?"

Anna smiled, "I'm very good at making myself a royal pain in the ass when I want to." I started to protest but she held up her hand to stop me, "Kidding, Nick." She smiled at me again, "I've been handling the visits well enough that I've been sprung from my prison at the hotel but I'm still on strict bed rest, hence the recliner and the blanket. Mom told me what Catherine said about you wanting me last night and after I talked it over with Dr. Lindley, she agreed to let me come here until you woke up, then I have another ultrasound in a bit and more time on the fetal monitor to check the baby."

Over the next few days, I slowly started to get better. I was still confined to the ICU bed and wasn't allowed to get up and get moving just yet, but I was relieved to be conscious and find out that Anna was okay. My biggest fear while I was buried, besides imminent death, was that something had happened to Anna or the baby and I couldn't stop it.

The steady stream of people in and out of my ICU hospital room had been nerve wracking, but I hadn't had the strength or the courage to kick them out. My family was taking turns sitting with me which was fine and Anna never left my side, sleeping comfortably in the fold out couch whenever Thing would cooperate. Most of the team had been by and that was one thing, but it seemed that half of the Las Vegas Police Department had come to check on me and I could have probably filled the entire lab with all of the flowers and cards that everyone sent.

As a surprise, Anna arranged it so I could go down with her for one of her ultrasound appointment. Dr. Lindley wanted to keep a close eye on both the pregnancy as well as my wife and had arranged to do another 4D ultrasound so I could see what my mother saw before I woke up.

The image of my child in front of me was mesmerizing. Though the technician couldn't get Thing to cooperate to see if he really was a boy or not, just seeing him on screen made me choke back a sob when I realized how close I had become to losing everything.

The tech took her time pointing out features, but as clear as the ultrasound was, I didn't need any help. We got a good view of Thing's side and one arm, but no matter what the tech did, he wouldn't cooperate and flip over to see the important parts but spent the better part of the exam with one of his hands over his face. Anna was still steadfastly holding on to her choice of not finding out what the baby's gender was, but I wanted to know but I was sworn to secrecy and couldn't tell anyone – my parents included – if I found out. While the tech was looking, Anna had a towel in her hands and held it up, blocking her view of the screen so if I was able to find out, she wouldn't know.

The tech printed off several stills from the appointment and even said she'd have a DVD burned of the video in a couple days and would bring it by my room. My favorite image was the second one she handed me. Thing had his hand across his face, but one of his eyes was open, teasing us. I smiled as I held on to the picture as the nurse took me back to my room, telling me Anna would be by later on after she had some blood drawn.

**A/N: Please be nice to me. I did some research into what people in comas dream about and experience and the most resounding answer was either memories about their past or someone from their past that they loved and lost and Kristy seemed to be the best way to go about accomplishing both.**

**If you've seen the movie Made in Heaven, I borrowed a few ideas from there to make this part flow. If you haven't seen it, rent it. It's my absolute favorite movie. I've always pictured Heaven like that and that's how I wanted to portray it here for Nick, especially the time warp thing because I just think that's cool.**

**For those of you who would like to know, George Eads _has_  signed on to appear on the 13th season of CSI and I for one has a happee. I would have a bigger happee if you'd leave me a review. I'd have an even bigger happy if Nick was the one to off McKeen and instead of Brass asking what that was and Nick saying a miss, Nick says a hit or I didn't miss this time or something.**


	43. Lullaby

**Chapter 43 – Lullaby**

**We're back to Nick's POV unless otherwise posted**

Every night this week, without fail, I have woken up in that box. It varies who's in there with me. Some nights, it's Anna. Other nights it is me alone and I'm not found in time. The ants bite me continuously until I'm dead. Last night's version was me with my parents trapped but it's always the oppressive six sides pressing in on us and the blindingly bright light shutting off the noise of the fan by my head with the ants. I shivered as I remembered the crawling and biting. Every time I thought about those ants, I broke out in chill bumps. I was able to hide it due to the healing scabs and scars on my arms, but nothing I did helped me with the nightmares.

Anna was good about throwing everyone out of the room when I broke down over the littlest detail. At first, I thought she was being rude, but after she did it with a room full of people in my ICU room, I realized why she was doing it. With an entire room full of LVPD officers and most of my team from work, she didn't want them to perceive me as weak or breakable. Some of the times, my mother would stay in while I broke down, but other times, she'd leave so I wouldn't see her cry. It had to be God awful for a mother to see her own son in a situation like mine. My father remained stoic, never once crying in my presence, but my mother kept stock in Kleenex, filling her purse with as many of the tissues as she could cram in there.

Catherine, Sara and Greg had taken turns with me at night while my parents and Anna went back to the hotel room for rest. Dr. Lindley finally relented and let Anna stay in my room with me as long as she stayed on that couch contraption in the corner of the room but she did have to go back to the hotel for a proper night's sleep. My parents were aware of the riders of Anna's visits and went out of their way to not only cater to me, but also to her and she didn't want for anything while my parents and sisters were here. Tyler came for a couple days, but not having many vacation days left due to Marissa being off on baby leave, he couldn't stay long.

Allison and Jillian were spending time both at the house as well as my hospital room. My mother said that the two of them were cleaning up the house in preparation for my release from the hospital, which according to the physician who had taken over my care, was still several days or so away.

The next few days were a blur of too many faces and voices to keep track of. Just about every doctor and nurse in the hospital, including a psych resident as well as my daily visitors had come by to check on me and a call from Anna's parents was thrown in just for fun. If anything, that was enough to mess with my head. Out of the time I had known Anna, I've spoken to her mother exactly two times, this time being the second one. She was pleasant enough, but in a hurry to get off the phone and if I had to guess, she didn't want to make the phone call to begin with, but rather she was doing it because I was her son in law and someone else made her do it.

Later on that day, to my surprise, I was allowed to leave the ICU and move up a couple floors to a room on the post surgical ward. With it came the opportunity for me to finally get out of bed and move around a little bit, but I had to wait on a physical therapist to arrive. When she finally did show up, I was able to move around in the hospital room, but first I had to master sitting up in the hospital bed. It felt really strange to have my legs hanging over the side of the bed and being upright after almost two weeks of lying down constantly. It was driving me up the wall and I could only imagine what it was like for Anna who was obeying Dr. Lindley's orders of bed rest. She kept her eyes on me as the therapist, who was about a small as she was, helped me out of bed and held me up while I got used to standing. I took a few steps towards the window before I felt uneasy and was told to sit. After about half an hour, I had finally gotten my legs underneath me and was moving around fairly well around my hospital room, despite protests from my stiff and swollen muscles.

It was another day later before I was allowed to go outside and I wanted Anna to come with me. When the nurse came in with a wheelchair to take me outside, an orderly was behind her, also with another wheelchair for Anna. She started to protest but sighed and sat down and was pushed outside with me.

The nurse and orderly left us alone outside in a rock garden just outside the cafeteria after leaving us with a portable hospital phone, telling us to call when we were done. It was quiet and secluded and perfect for me to finally get Anna alone and have her fill me in on everything.

The sun was shinning. The sky was bright and clear and empty except for a few clouds lazily floating by and they certainly weren't bothering anybody. It was a welcome sight for me since all I had seen since I had woken up were blank walls and medical equipment.

The hospital was close to the airport and as always, there were a few planes coming and going. I heard some faint music playing from another one of the buildings a street or so over. Whenever the wind would pick up, it'd carry the boring tunes with it, just long enough for me to hear a few notes.

It was great weather for being outside. Not too hot, but not too cold. It was Vegas in May. The shade of a few trees in the garden provided a solstice of sorts from the sun. Anna sunburned easily and with me being inside for so long, I was squinting against the light but it was good weather to be outside.

_"Enough with the damn light."_

When the sun came out from behind a stray cloud, it sent a ray of light aimed directly at me and with it came the memories. They kept flooding back.

_I did not want to die. Not yet and not like this._

More memories. It was bad weather for dying but is there ever really a good time for that? Who would want that? Grissom maybe? I could hear his thoughts,  _'Could I squeeze it in after my bug conference? Why not?'_

If I died. That thought kept rolling through my head. I wouldn't have to worry about that meeting with Ecklie over my performance review in a month or so if I died in that box. My anniversary date with the lab was coming up in a couple months and like clockwork, Ecklie always had to have his performance reviews. For the most part, mine were always good. I was always complimented on my demeanor and how I handled critical cases and dealt with victims. This time though…Ecklie was about to have my ass on a silver platter. I knew he'd bring up the kidnapping and how I allowed this to happen to myself.

I was snapped back into reality when Anna got out of the wheelchair and moved to a wrought iron bench a few feet away from where we were. I drug my IV pole over and parked it next to a tree before I sat down beside her. "Feels good to be outside for a change."

Anna took my hand in hers, "I bet."

I wanted to badly to tell her about my experience, but didn't want to mention Kristy, and what happened while I was unconscious. I didn't want her to think I was a lunatic, so I opted not to tell her right away, but asked her instead if she had ever heard of anyone unconscious having out of body experiences, "Of course I have. Our consciousness can transcend our bodies even if science won't admit it."

"So you believe in it?"

"I believe that science still has a lot to catch up with in some areas and this is one. I've read stories about patients being unconscious during surgery but being able to remember everything. I've had unconscious patients in the back of our trucks remember what we were talking about when they woke up. Bryan's grandmother had an experience while she was in surgery for a hip replacement."

Now I was intrigued, "What was it?"

"Gamma went in for a hip replacement after a fall and her heart stopped. The surgeon was able to restart it, but she told us later that while she was dead, she was floating near the ceiling next to a sign that read  _'_ You're dead.'"

"Did you have one when you were shot?"

Anna shook her head, "Not that I remember, no. I do remember at your apartment someone kept telling me 'Hurry up and come on. We're waiting for you.' or at least I think that's what it was. I don't remember what it was that was being said exactly, but it was something to that nature and I felt someone pulling on me. They were trying to pull me away from you. I felt you holding on to me and I felt the pain from it all, but something was puling me and pulling on me hard. It scared the mess out of me and it didn't help that I was losing consciousness."

I never saw a physical sign when I was where I was, but it did mean I wasn't as crazy as I felt. I decided to change the subject just to be on the safe side, "Mom told me what happened to you."

Anna shifted uncomfortably in her seat, "Yeah, but everything is okay now."

I stuck one of my fingers through the hospital ID arm band she was still wearing, "You have to be more careful about Thing. You have to take care of yourself and the baby."

"Nick, I know this, okay? I've gotten lectures from everyone already about what I did, but do you blame me? How do you expect me to stay calm in the situation? Imagine it from my perspective if you will. Yes, I could have done some things differently, but asking me to stay calm while you were missing?" She shook her head, "Not gonna happen."

"I'm not trying to accu…"

Anna interrupted me, "Sounds like you are."

"Anna, I'm just worried about you. That's all."

"And you think I wasn't worried about you?"

I sighed, "How could you let this happen?"

"Nick!" Anna was livid, "Let what happen?"

"Do you not want this baby?"

Anna stood up so fast that I thought she was about to knock the bench over and I was still in it, "Nicholas Parker Stokes what kind of question is that?"

I pulled on Anna's hand to sit down, but she refused, "Anna, please. Sit." She still didn't budge, "I just meant you were worried about turning out like your mother…"

"Nick, I'm sorry. Okay? I'm sorry. I should have come to the hospital. I should have remained calm, but damn it I didn't mean to put this baby in danger. I wanted this pregnancy." With me still pulling on her arm, she finally sat down, "You were buried. I thought…" Anna had to stop herself, "I thought…" With that, she started crying, "I thought I was about to watch you die."

This wasn't going in the direction I wanted. I didn't want it to sound like I was mad at Anna because I wasn't, but I was and still am concerned about her and Thing, "I'm not mad at you. I promise. I knew something was wrong with you long before I woke up."

"How?"

And now I had to tell Anna about Kristy, "Earlier when I mentioned the out of body experiences, I think I had one."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Anna leaned her head against my shoulder as I started to tell her about meeting Kristy, "I was walking down this long corridor of doors, each one with my name on it. I stopped at a few of them and saw stuff from my childhood, my graduation and then when I met you. The scenes were playing like movies, but each one of them lasted only a few minutes at a time. Kinda like a replay from a football game I guess." I smiled, "Anyway, I kept on walking and this voice told me that I'd find it. Eventually when I got to the end, someone was there waiting for me."

"Who?"

I knew Anna would ask but I wasn't sure how she'd take me telling her about Kristy, "Well, it was someone I knew and didn't expect to meet."

She lifted her head off my shoulder, "You're killing me with this anticipation. Who was it?"

"Kristy Hopkins."

"Well that's a surprise."

"You're not mad?"

Anna shook her head, "Why on Earth would I be mad?"

"She was…you know…and we sorta…before she died."

"Nicky, I've already told you that doesn't bother me. You weren't my only love either before I married you. We've already established that."

This time it was my turn to lean in to Anna, "Just making sure. It was so peaceful and I didn't hurt and the time warp travel was just the most awesome thing ever. I thought about where I wanted to go and I was there. It was all so surreal that in the deep coma, I was leaning towards staying in the light and enjoying my time with Kristy, you know? Getting to talk to her again. It was definitely an unusual yet magnificent experience."

"I understand."

I could tell Anna was hurt, "But I wanted to come home to you. That's all I wanted. I enjoyed being able to talk to Kristy again, but I missed you. I wanted you even though I knew what coming back to here meant. All the pain and the aftermath. I wanted that just so I could see you again and tell you how much I love you."

Anna perked up, "You'll get past it though, Nicky. You're made of stronger stuff than that. You proved that just by being alive now. It's all because you're smart and tough."

"I don't feel that way. I break down at the smallest thing and everything I see reminds me of that…that box." I looked around the gardens, "The mulch over there, it just…" I felt another wave of panic about to hit me, "It smells like dirt and it just reminds me." Letting out a huge sigh to hopefully suppress my sob, I shut my eyes tightly to hold back the tears, "It was all I could smell and it was overpowering, just so damn overpowering. I became numb to everything except that smell. The swamp cooler in the hospital room clicks on and off and it reminds me of that fan. The sunlight coming through the window reminds me of that light near my feet." I had contained my tears long enough, "Damn it."

"Nicky, stop." Anna dug around in her pockets until she handed me a travel size package of Kleenex, "Your mother gave them to me." Using her fingernails, she pulled the plastic wrap off and handed me a wad of tissues, "Let yourself cry. Let the emotions out. It's just you, me and the IV pole, and I doubt the IV pole will judge you for anything."

I had to laugh through my tears, "What'd you name yours?"

"When I was shot, it was Oliver. This time, it was Patrick."

Anna helped me pick out a name for my IV pole and we decided on the name Rhonda because of the song 'Help Me Rhonda.' I took her advice and had a good, solid cry out in the private confines of the rock garden with no one around me to see me break down. In between my sobs, I revealed parts of what had happened to me, but not many. I didn't want to upset Anna more than necessary. "I recorded a goodbye note to everyone, but the hardest part was saying goodbye to you."

When Anna started to sniffle, I handed her back the package of Kleenex, "Nicky…"

"I know, I know. You're not supposed to get emotional."

"I'm pregnant. Flower commercials get me emotional."

I once again let out a laugh through my tears, "It's just I don't know. I reached a point down there I guess that I knew I wasn't about to make it out, but I never gave up hope that someone would find me until the very end. I was about to just do it and Warrick found me. If he ha…" I stopped myself. I didn't want to tell Anna that if he had been a few minutes later, she'd be preparing for my funeral. "I saw my own funeral. You were there with my family but Grissom and the preacher were just being rude. Grissom advertised for my job opening and the preacher told me I was selfish. Oh, and I was naked also."

Anna giggled, "Well, we do come in to this world bare assed. It'd make sense that when we get to the great beyond, we're also bare assed. I wonder if we're all naked in Heaven?"

"I had clothes on up there, or wherever it was I went or at least the part where I met Kristy I was clothed. When I was at my funeral I wasn't." I told Anna more about the funeral, but neglected to mention my time in the morgue. That was just too twisted for me to tell her about given every thing we had been through, "Oh, and Kristy wanted me to tell you something about the baby."

"What?"

"She said it's a girl. I even got to see her."

"Oooh!" Anna squealed, "What'd she look like?"

"Remember that pink onsie that Catherine gave us?"

"Yeah."

"There were these windows up there. That's how I was able to see you. Anyway, Kristy showed me a window and through it, I saw our daughter sleeping in a dark wooden crib but she had on that pink onsie that Catherine gave us. The CSI in training one."

"We haven't bought a crib yet."

I shrugged my shoulders, "I'm just telling you what I saw."

Anna looked pleased, "So, it's a girl?"

"I don't know. I didn't want to tell you, but Dr. Lindley thought she saw boy parts at one of your earlier ultrasounds, but she knew you didn't want to know, so she told me." I smiled, "But if my biology lessons still hold true, it has to be either a boy or a girl."

"Ha ha, Nicky." Anna playfully pushed me before taking hold of my left hand, "I'll have to get you a new ring."

"Yeah." I rubbed my left hand, "I'm still kinda pissed they cut it off when Bryan saved yours."

Anna fidgeted with her wedding rings before looking down at the faint tan line where I wore mine, "It's okay, Nicky. When you get out of here, I'll stop by the jewelry store where I got yours and I'll get another one. That ring is just an object. It's replaceable." She kissed me on the cheek, "You're not."

"Kristy also mentioned a name."

I heard Anna snort, "Did she tell us what to name the baby?"

I laughed, "No, but she did tell us that we'd get a sign."

"A sign? Like a garden gnome holding up a piece of cardboard that says 'Name your baby Melody!' or something?"

"No." I felt myself relaxing with the situation we were in. It was so nice to have someone acting normal around me, "She just said we'd get a sign and we'd know. She also mentioned August seventeenth as something happening that day."

Anna was lost in thought a minute, "Baptism maybe? I don't get what it could be…" She trailed off as she thought, "I guess we'll find out in a couple months."

The two of us stayed outside a bit longer before the same nurse as before told us to come back in because of lunch. I helped Anna get situated in her wheelchair and sat down in mine as we were both pushed back inside.

Lunch came and went, followed by dinner. As the night wore on, my team members began to file in the room. The only constant noise in the room was the television, currently tuned to some sports channel, quite possibly done so deliberately so I'd feel more at home but the gesture was oddly calming. Even though my physicians had been hammering in my head to rest, I hadn't really been getting any of the rest that I needed. Between the nightmares and the visitors, my mind was racing too fast.

There were things that I needed to talk about with my team. I needed to know, but I hadn't been able to find the words or the proper time to ask them. I really didn't want Anna in the room with me, but when nightfall came and she went back to the hotel with my parents, it was usually Catherine or Greg in the room with me and I really wanted to talk to all of them at once, especially Grissom. He wasn't one of the ones who normally stayed with me at night. All of us knew that he was good at a lot of things, but there were two things he wasn't good at: relating to people and showing people how much he cared about them. Such was the case now. He showed he cared in ways different than others. Catherine and Greg stayed with me. Warrick kept me up to date on sports scores and tried to keep my mind at ease, telling me about his girlfriend, Tina. Sara was one to sit quietly in the room with me and just be there for me, which was fine, but Grissom was Grissom and there wasn't a thing any of us could do to change that.

It was another full day before they were all back in my room and I had my chance and at that moment, I wished I was someone else. It's not something I've never wished before, but I was feeling it. It's the strongest desire I know and I've known about it since I was a young child. Ever since that babysitter. To be someone else. To not have been there and for someone else to have gone through what I had and to have gone on, blissfully ignorant of the whole thing. I suppose I was being selfish for wishing what I went through on someone else, but humans are a selfish species. I listened to Catherine and Sara talking lightly about one of their cases when Grissom mentioned something about the PD needing my statement as soon as I was well.

I sighed sleepily, "What happened?"

Anna, Warrick, Sara, Grissom, Greg and Catherine cast quick and confused glances at each other before Grissom responded, "You don't remember?"

 _For the love of toast, how could I forget? I was buried underground while ants ate my eyeballs._ I felt it best to keep the sarcastic thoughts in check, "Yeah…I mean I remember, but why? Who did it?"

Warrick looked somewhat relieved, "A man named Walter Gordon. His daughter, Kelly, is serving a nickel for accessory to murder."

I frowned and shook my head a little. I had worked so many cases over the years that individual cases no longer stuck out. I remembered the gory ones and the first ones I worked as well as the more infamous cases, but this one, I was drawing a blank. Murder was just too common of a crime for me to remember all of my murder cases, "Was it my case?"

"No, it was three years ago." Grissom looked over towards Catherine, "It was a day shift case."

I was still confused, "Then why me? Why not go after day shift?"

"It wasn't about…" Grissom stopped himself before finishing as he looked over at Anna who had her eyes fixated on him, as anxious for answers as I was, "It was random."

I felt numb as I sat there, hearing Grissom talk but not really listening. I hadn't actually heard anything that he had said after  _"It was random."_  I could still hear him, though it was now just a low buzz in the back of my mind, but the fact that Walter Gordon kidnapped the CSI that just so happened to stumble upon that crime scene upset me more than it should.

_The coin toss._

I snapped my attention back to Grissom as he droned on about the day shift case where Kelly Gordon got arrested as I spied Warrick just behind Catherine. It dawned on me why he was keeping his distance. He was worried I'd be mad at him and to a degree, I was. I knew it was nothing more than a good run of bad luck that put me in that situation. Had that coin landed on the other side, it would have been Warrick and he'd be lying here in bed while I hid behind Catherine, not wanting to make eye contact with him. Seeing Catherine as she shifted her weight to her other foot reminded me of how she handled the situation that night.

" _I'm too busy to play favorites…"_

My anger shifted. Had Catherine actually done her job and assigned the cases to Warrick and me, he might have wound up underground, but just in all likelihood, it would have been me. All of us, except Grissom who seemed to be blissfully unaware of anything related to the female gender, knew that Catherine had a sweet spot for Warrick and probably would have given him the assault case that night anyway, just to keep him from having to dig in the trash off of Koval. I felt a wave of nausea hit me and Anna must have picked up on it because she slid the bedside table over towards me with her foot and I grabbed the puke bucket that the nurse had left and I held on to it, begging the nausea to go away so I wouldn't have to revisit what I had for breakfast in front of my team.

It was then that I decided that sometimes it's better to be clueless about what's happening around you rather than to know every bit of information that would silently kill you. This was one of those times.

Grissom apparently noticed I wasn't paying attention when I reached for the puke bucket, "Nick?"

I let go of the puke bucket and looked up, "Yeah?"

"Did you hear anything I just said?"

"Yeah, yeah. Walter Gordon was getting revenge on CSI for putting his daughter behind bars. Completely random."

"Well…" Grissom sighed, "He's dead. He got what he deserved I guess."

"No, he deserved to be pulled apart by horses but the law said I couldn't do that." Catherine looked annoyed, "He deserved something a lot more painful than how he went."

' _So breathe quick, breathe slow, put your gun in your mouth and pull the trigger. Any way you like, you're going to die here'_

Those cold words had never really left me and I knew that I'd never be able to actually forget that heartless voice, no matter how hard I tried. This mini powwow Grissom had arranged wasn't helping me much. I let my gaze fall to each member of my team as Grissom rambled on. Sara looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here, but that was normal. She, like Grissom, didn't do too well in social situations. Catherine was nervously shifting her weight from her left foot to her right. Warrick was still hiding and Greg was the only member of my team remotely relaxed in my presence. The only one left was Grissom. I listened to him continue to talk about Walter Gordon in the past tense and it reminded me of a college professor reading from a history book. No emotion, void of any feelings. That's how he did things.

"In any event, it's over."

Grissom's tone brought me back down to earth. I had heard that before. I think it was him telling me repeatedly at the hospital as I was waiting on Anna to wake up from surgery that it was over. Nigel Crane was dead. Anna killed him saving my life. He couldn't hurt anyone else and it was over. Everything they were saying all boiled down to one fact: It doesn't matter. "I guess so."

It may have been over for them, but it certainly wasn't over for me and it wasn't over for Anna. She and I both had a lot to deal with.

The twinges and aches in my body hadn't gone away and I was still healing from the ant bites and muscle stiffness as well as a broken nose. When my pain pump beeped, my eyes diverted from my team over to the plastic box that was attached to Rhonda. Cathy had told me it was set to dispense a certain amount every now and then at an interval determined by my doctors and the medication dosage had been lowered since I moved down to a regular floor. If I was in pain, I did have control over a control that allowed me to have an extra dose every now and again. The cord to that was hanging over the railing of the IV stand was what the nurses called it a happy button. I used it a few times in the ICU, but it always made me drowsy and I'd fall asleep. Since I had next to no medical training and was worried about overdosing, one of them explained to me that I could press it a hundred times in an hour and it'd only give me a set amount of pain medication; I'd never overdose. I didn't want to have to rely on the medicine, no matter how much I probably deserved it at the moment with my sides and muscles protesting from being used. Against my better judgment, I hit the happy button and relaxed when I felt the medication start its way through my veins.

After that, everyone began to file out. My parents came and left, going back and forth to Summerlin to help my sisters with the house. My dad had busied himself taking care of our horses with our barn kid and I'm sure dad was thankful for the distraction and the vague sense of normalcy. They stopped by again just before dinner was served and stayed a few minutes, reminding Anna of her eight o'clock curfew. My mother took a special interest in making sure Anna stuck to what Dr. Lindley had said and made it one of her responsibilities to care for her daughter in law and future granddaughter.

The attendant brought the dinner tray by my room and I tossed Anna my cornbread, as was our custom. That was about the only thing I couldn't stand was the hospital version of stale cornbread, but Anna liked it and I was glad to give it to her. I took the plastic top off and was greeted to a dinner of watery mashed potatoes, green beans and a meat type substance that the menu described as homemade beef pot roast, but I saw neither anything homemade or beef pot roast in the smashed up concoction that was before me. It looked more like Alpo.

"You looked miles away when Grissom was talking."

I stabbed a few green beans with my spork, "You noticed that?"

"It's pretty hard not to. Wanna tell me about it?"

I managed to swallow the bland green beans and reached over for the bottle of Pepsi my dad had brought me, grateful that at least it had flavor, "I just kept thinking about what Griss was telling me. It was random. The whole night started as random with that coin toss."

Anna looked confused, "What coin toss?"

"The night it happened, Catherine was on her way out to another call. She handed us two assignment slips and told us to duke it out. Warrick and I flipped for it and he won, leaving me with the case I got which well, you know the rest." I stirred the runny mashed potatoes with the bland gravy, "I just kept thinking about what would have happened if I won? Would I have taken the call out I got? What would have happened if Catherine actually delegated the assignments to us? Would I still have gotten the trash run? Would I still have been the one to get kidnapped?" I gave up on trying to eat the bland, watery hospital meal and shoved the bedside table away from me, "The whole situation just left me bitter." I shook off the nagging feeling about being underground and about to die and changed the subject, "How are you feeling?"

Anna groaned, "Bloated. Tired. Every muscle in my body aches. You know what I found out?"

"What's that?"

"According to The Journal of the American Insect Lovers Association magazine or whatever it was called that Grissom left, the average gestational age of a fruit bat is only two months. Two!"

"I don't get it…"

"Think about it, Nicky." Anna pulled the blanket in her chair up closer to her chest, "A fruit bat has a gestational period of two months. Two! I could deal with two months of morning sickness or two months of not seeing my toes, but nine is pushing it."

Now that made me smile, "Has your due date changed?"

"Nope. Dr. Lindley is still holding on to the August eleventh date for now. She told me at my last appointment that it could be earlier or later. She mentioned that dreaded C word again as a possibility."

"C-section?"

"Yeah."

"Well, if that's what it takes…"

"No!" Anna lowered her voice when she realized how forceful she sounded, "No. I'm not having a c-section. Leah will be born naturally without any drugs. I'd love to do a home birth, but I know you won't let me."

I shook my head, "No wife of mine is about to pop a squat in a closet and squirt out Thing."

"Nicky, it's a little more advanced than that. I could have a birthing pool in our bedroom and there'd be a registered midwife there and Cathy is a nurse and I'm sure if I asked, she'd be there. It'd be controlled and I'd be closely monitored and I could do things on my time table instead of some doctor telling me when to push. Women have been having babies like that since the dawn of time."

"And I'd feel better if you were in a hospital so if anything happened to you or Thing that there'd be medical intervention closer than a midwife with a chainsaw."

Anna pouted, "I still wish I was a fruit bat."

An idea I had made me laugh pretty hard when I got a vision of our daughter being a fruit bat and hanging upside down from the ceiling and the two of us trying to catch her with a net. When I told Anna what I was thinking, she laughed with me which was a sound that I realized that I missed more than I had known. I had hardly heard anyone around me laugh since this happened, especially laughing like this, "Thank you for that."

"For what?"

I asked Anna to get in bed with me and she did and after she was settled, I covered both of us up, "You're supposed to be on bed rest. I guess it doesn't matter which bed it is you're in. Thank you for laughing with me like that. You're one of the few people who isn't afraid to show emotions around me."

I felt Anna snuggle closer to me, "You're welcome."

There wasn't a comfortable way for her to lie down in order to sleep which was part of the reason she hadn't been able to nap at all during the day. It took a little bit of adjusting and rearranging, but finally Anna became still and draped her arm across my stomach.

We didn't say anything and before long, her slow, rhythmic breathing lulled me to sleep as well.

**A/N: Thanks for being supportive about my last chapter. I always get uneasy when I go outside the norm and delve deeper into the world of fantasy. Much appreciated for the reviews that everyone has left and I expect more reviews for this chapter. Nick will be released from the hospital next chapter, Grissom gives Nick a present and expect things to become rocky at the Stokes house as he deals with PTSD the way I feel he should have dealt with it rather than how we were shown he dealt with it.**


	44. Every Morning

**Chapter 44 – Every Morning**

Two more days in the hospital. It was Saturday and according to the doctor, I had today and tomorrow and would more than likely be released Monday morning. That phrase kept reverberating through my head as I listened to my parents discussing my discharge with my physician. According to him, I was well enough to go home. My kidney functions had returned to baseline normal after the ant toxins were finally flushed out of my system. My blood counts were all normal and there didn't seem to be any lingering problems from anything that had happened to me.

At least there was nothing wrong that a blood test or an x-ray could see. Everything that was wrong with me was something no one could see and I was doing my best to keep it inside, hidden from everyone's view. Anna suspected something was up, but she knew better than to confront me in front of a room full of people. My mother either didn't catch on or was oblivious to the fact but my father knew something was wrong but he, like Anna, didn't question me.

The emotional damage was far more prominent and kept showing its ugly head whenever it got a chance. Everything seemed to set me off or remind me of that damned coffin. The sunlight coming through the curtains in my hospital room. The sound of the air conditioning clicking on and off. The dead silence in the room late at night when I couldn't sleep. No matter what I did or didn't do, nothing helped. Whenever something innocent like my IV line brushed across my arms, I felt those ants crawling over me. I couldn't sleep with the hospital sheet or blanket over my arms for the same reason. Everything was haunting me.

As the day wore on, my room was filled with visitors coming and going. My parents were a constant in my room and the rotating visitors from work, LVPD and even some of Anna's co-workers stopped by for a bit. It was taxing on me to see their faces and the sympathetic glances they threw at each other when they thought I wasn't looking. Members of my team were still for the most part uncomfortable in my presence. Grissom seemed to have relaxed somewhat but both Catherine and especially Warrick were still on edge with me. Greg could always be counted on to help ease the tension by doing something or saying something stupid or showing me a funny YouTube clip he found to ease the tension. Sara mostly kept to herself, but did offer to bring me some magazine articles or journal entries she found that she thought I might find interesting.

Finally, my room started to clear out as nightfall came and I said goodbye to my parents who promised they'd send Anna back for a visit after she woke up from her nap at the hotel. Her back had been bothering her and after discussing it with one of Dr. Lindley's nurses, she suggested to Anna that she take some pediatric Tylenol and go lie down for a bit. The hotel room Sam had gotten for Anna had a whirlpool tub in it and my parents had said she had been spending a lot of time in it to relieve the back pains she had been having from the pregnancy.

Grissom and I had a nice, long talk yesterday after Anna and my parents had left. I knew I was in no position to go back to work any time in the near future, but he felt a need to remind me that after any on the job incident, the people involved were required to go through five mandatory counseling sessions with a licensed head doctor. Grissom gave me the packet of information I needed to have my shrink sign off on when I was finished with my five sessions and after that, he and Ecklie would meet with me to discuss my duties. Right before he left, he handed me a small box and told me to open it when I got a few extra moments to fully take in and understand what was in the package. When the night nurse came in for a fresh set of vitals, she set the box aside and I quickly forgot about it when I started to get drowsy.

My dreams were the same, only tonight, they were less vivid. Sleep was challenging to say the least, which left me plenty of empty time to think. Jillian had bought a picture frame and had put one of Anna's 4D ultrasound photos in it and had left the frame on my bedside table. It was my favorite one out of the set we had. Thing's hands were across his face, but his fingers were spread apart so I could see one of his eyes. He was playing with us, showing us that until he was born, we wouldn't know the gender for sure. Kristy had told me the baby was going to be a girl, but Dr. Lindley was sure it was a boy. I continued to call it a boy most of the time, but Anna was steadfastly holding on to what Kristy had told me when I was unconscious.

Holding the picture frame in my hand, I felt the tears well up in my eyes. It was because of my job – this damn job – that I was in this hospital. In the sleepless nights, I was debating whether or not I even wanted to go back. Nothing would please my parents more if I told them I was uprooting my life here to move back to Dallas or anywhere in Texas for that matter, but I didn't have the heart to tell Anna. Her life was here. Her job was here. Her friends and the only family besides me that she gave a damn about were here in Vegas and I didn't know if I could even ask her to give it up.

I let the picture slide out of my hands and land on my stomach as I leaned back against the hospital bed mattress and adjusted the bed to where I was lying down, rather than being propped up. I remembered how working for the Vegas Crime Lab for me was always a dream of mine. I applied on a whim and didn't think I'd ever hear back from them but to my surprise, I heard from Brass almost a day later asking if I could fly to Las Vegas for an interview. I didn't tell my parents about my job opportunity and instead lied to them and said I was going to Oklahoma for the weekend to see a college buddy of mine who had gotten divorced recently. After I got the job, I had to break the news to my parents that I was leaving Dallas and to this day, I have yet to forget the look of disappointment on my father's face as I told him I was leaving. Like my sisters and brother, I was expected to stay in Dallas and raise a family and still come home for Sunday supper while the grandkids played outside.

Now, all these years later, I was debating on whether or not I even wanted to stay here in Vegas. It had been one nightmare after another. Amy Hendler. Nigel Crane. Walter Gordon. Now that Anna was pregnant, the faces of the children over the years we couldn't save haunted me. The little girl that drowned at the carnival ride. The teenagers who died after their car flipped. The teenage suicide gun shot victim and the look his mother had when she was recounting the events after she found him. The list of nightmarish perpetrators kept growing.

My parents never brought it up while I was here, but I couldn't help but pick up on the vibe that they were still bitter about the way I left Dallas. More than once, I caught my dad studying me without saying a word, but his thoughts were screaming loud and clear,  _"If only you would have stayed in Dallas, son. None of this would have happened. You put your mother and me, not to mention your wife, through hell. If you would have just stayed in Dallas…"_

I didn't want to get in to it with my parents, especially my father, so I let it slide. I put Thing's picture back on the bedside table and pulled the blanket up over my head and tried to sleep, knowing I had some very tough decisions in my future.

The next day right after breakfast was served, Anna was in her customary seat of the folding couch and was watching me try to slice through bacon with a Spork. She wasn't saying much and neither was I, but the TV was on in the background at least providing a reprieve from the silence in the room. While she had her head down, I stole a sideways glance at her. She was texting someone, Bryan probably, and wasn't paying any attention to me. She finally put her phone down on the armrest of the couch and rolled over as much as she could to face me, "Feeling better?"

Anna shrugged her shoulders, "A little I think. My back doesn't hurt as bad as it did yesterday, but I'm still uncomfortable."

I busied myself cutting the last strip of bacon into tiny pieces before I finally took the plunge, "What would you say if I told you I was thinking on quitting CSI?"

Anna didn't respond right away, and instead, busied herself in shredding the cornbread muffin I had just given her. When it was properly shredded and she had a fair amount of crumbs on her shirt, she sighed, "I'd think I'd support you no matter what your decision was and you know that. I told you I'd follow you anywhere when I married you and I meant it. I'd think no one would blame you if you left, but I'd also think you wouldn't be happy unless you were working at the lab with everyone."

She had a point. I would miss it. I closed my eyes and dropped my spork to the bedside table and sighed to myself. My parents would be overjoyed if I quit CSI and moved to Dallas, but I had a life here. Anna and I both had a life here, but I found myself questioning myself over and over again if it was the life I truly wanted. I gave up on the bacon's destruction and shoved the bedside table to the edge of my bed and reached over and pulled the edge of the couch to bring Anna closer to me. She held out her hand and I took it in mine, kissing the back of hers, "It's just all this." I shook my head, "I don't know if this is what I want anymore." When I looked up, I realized Anna must have thought I didn't want her anymore. I helped her in bed with me and handed her one of my blankets and covered her up, "I meant I don't know if I want to stay here anymore, not that I don't want you." I managed to get my arms around Anna's shoulders and held her to me, "I'll always want you and Thing."

"Leah."

I smiled, "Whatever."

"What brought the thoughts about leaving CSI on? Did your parents say something to you?"

"No." I shook my head, "It's just that everything that's happened here has gotten me to thinking maybe I need a change, but I know what I'd be asking of you. Your job is here. Your life is here."

I felt Anna shake her head against my chest as she held on to me, "My life is with you, Nicky. If you want to leave, then we'll pack up the horses, dogs and cat and move to Texas. I'm sure I could get a job with the Dallas Fire Department if I wanted. Fire departments are quick to hire paramedics with my experience."

"It'd be asking a lot of you though."

Again, Anna didn't respond right away. I felt her shift next to me and when I inched over in the bed to give her more room, she stopped me, "I know everything you've been through. I've been through a lot of it with you. It wouldn't be asking anything of me." She managed to sit up just a little bit to kiss me, "I told you, my life is with you, wherever that is. If you want to leave Vegas, then we'll leave Vegas."

Anna was not making this easy on me. I half expected her to dig her heels in and tell me not just no, but hell no, and here she was giving me free reign to uproot our lives and move to somewhere else. This was not going to be easy.

I changed the subject to something more palatable and we passed most of the rest of the afternoon bantering back and forth about baby names, but we didn't have any luck. We were in agreement about a boy's name being Nick Junior, but a girl's name was something we'd likely need mediators and a court of law to settle. Anna was hell bent and determined to name the baby Leah if she was a girl and had been calling it Leah since she found out she was pregnant, but I still wasn't sold on the name. I tried suggesting other names, but she kept holding on to Leah. If Kristy was right, we'd get a sign on our baby's name and I could only hope that the sign didn't point to Leah.

Dinner came and went and as custom, I tossed my cornbread muffin to Anna. My parents had left the hospital and had come back with Subway for her and for them while I was stuck eating watered down vegetables and something identified by the menu as Salisbury steak. Hospital food was something I was looking forward to avoiding when I finally left here.

Nightfall came and of course, the nightmares came with it. I shifted uncomfortably in bed and kept dozing off in short bursts of sleep. Half an hour here. Ten minutes there. Finally, I sighed in exasperation as I glanced over at Anna who was on her side, watching me sleep like an eggbeater, "Can you talk to me?"

She got in bed and looked a bit confused but said she would, "Anything in particular?"

"Not really, no. I just want to see it it'll help with the nightmares. Maybe if you talk to me until I fall asleep I won't..."

Anna moved the pillow down between her back and the bed rail to my hospital bed, "Dr. Lindley said bed rest but she didn't say what bed."

I sighed deeply when she put her head on my chest. To make myself more comfortable, I draped my arm across her waist as she traced imaginary patterns on my chest with her fingernails, "So what should I say?"

"I don't know. Can you do it in French?"

"Of course I can." With that, Anna told me to shut my eyes and she began to softly speak in French at a level only I could hear.

I let her go on for a few minutes until I interrupted her. I had been catching words here and there, but for the most part when she rambled on in French, I didn't have a clue what she was saying, "What are you saying?"

"The safety poster on the wall over there. I'm translating it." She smiled and told me to close my eyes again, "It's soothing no matter what I say."

The next morning I was awakened by a nurse coming in to get a set of vitals. It struck me that it was not only later than I thought but I also slept through the night, uninterrupted by the ants or nightmares. It worked. Anna talking to me before bed worked. At some point in time, she left the room and I didn't even wake up. Finally. I was able to sleep through the night.

Even better, the nurse that came in for vitals said that after the doctors made their rounds, I'd be discharged home.

The breakfast trays were brought around and the nurse from earlier stuck his head in the door and said that the doctors were on their way to my room for rounds in the next hour or so. I sent Anna a quick text and told her as much and told her to make sure my parents were here. I knew they'd want to be a part. Anna sent one back and said Jillian was taking her to an ultrasound appointment but she'd be up to my room as soon as they were done.

"Discharge day!" The discharge nurse entered my room pushing a wheelchair with an orderly behind her, pushing another, "One is for you, one is for your wife. Any idea where she went?"

"Yeah, her doc had her upstairs for one more ultrasound before we left. She should be down any minute."

My mother was gathering up the bag with my clothes and books in it while I started to sweep all the get well cards into a pile and shoved them down into the bag Anna was using. I really didn't want to toss them out, but I also didn't want to keep them. When I turned to toss the bag on the bed, I saw the small present Grissom had left in my room the other day. I didn't have time to open it now and tossed it on the bed and asked my mother to put it in the bag she had.

Ten minutes later, Dr. Lindley was pushing Anna into my room, "I'll tell you like I told your wife, continued bed rest. I want her on complete bed rest when you get home. The only activity I want her doing is getting up to go to the bathroom and taking a bath and that's it. No work. No exertion. Got it?"

Anna looked worried as she agreed to Dr. Lindley's conditions, "Fine. I promise, I'll be on bed rest."

"Good." She handed Anna an appointment card and the orderly started to push her wheelchair out of my hospital room.

"Sit, Mr. Stokes."

The nurse was blocking my way out of my hospital room, "I can walk."

She smiled, "Hospital policy. Now sit."

I sighed and sat down and reached out for Anna's hand until the orderly pushing her chair broke our grip.

We rode down to the ground floor in silence, my mother carrying Anna's bag and my father carrying mine. Jillian had taken my parents' rental car back to my house with Allison to get ready for us to come home and to start in on lunch. My mouth began to water when mom said Jill had gone to the store and picked up everything she'd need to fry catfish. I knew Anna hated seafood, but right now, I was so hungry for anything other than hospital food that I forgot to mention it to my mother. I'd cook Anna something when we got home or she'd find something in the fridge. Catherine had said she and Lindsey were going to bring over a pan of lasagna at some point in time before we got home, so if anything, Anna could help herself to some of that.

My mother drove us home in Anna's Xterra. Anna wanted to sit in the back with me and I told her I didn't mind, but my father insisted she sit up front where she'd have more room. Not feeling like arguing, I told Anna it was okay and helped her in the front seat while my father took the seat next to me in the back.

I listened in as my mother chatted about our family but I really didn't care. I kept gazing out the window, watching the scenery go by. The closer we got to our house, the sparser the buildings became. On the last turn off on the highway to get home, the buildings stopped. Acres of farmland stretched out before me and I soon became bored watching rows and rows of crops pass us by. My father kept his gaze fixed out the front windshield, no doubt keeping an eye on my mother's speed on the way home. Last thing he needed as a judge was his wife getting a speeding ticket taking me home. That'd look about as good as a judge's son getting kidnapped and eaten alive by ants after he ran away from Texas a number of years earlier. With my father, appearances were everything.

"Home." I stood in the driveway and stared hard at our house. I don't know if I thought it'd change or what, but it hadn't. The same pale yellow bricks held up the house with the light gray shingles on the roof and the same crooked left shutter on our living room window. The same red barn was behind the house and the pond was right where it always was. My Tundra was parked on my side of the carport with my parents' rental car behind it. My mother parked Anna's Xterra next to my Tundra in the carport, but I didn't see my Tahoe anywhere. I figured it was back at the lab and I'd get it back when I went back to work.

Work. The mere thought of work sent chill bumps all up and down my arms. "Are you cold?" Anna noticed the bumps on my arms, "Come on. Let's go in."

She started to lead me towards the door with my mom and dad in front of us. Just like my parents had said, my sisters had dutifully gone to work and had cleaned our house from top to bottom. The faint smell of the lavender Pine-Sol Anna liked was in the air and everything in the house was in neat order, no doubt having been gone over by my father who was a stickler for even the tiniest details.

I left my parents, sisters and Anna in the living room as I went to our bedroom to dump my hospital bag on the bed and noticed that we had new bed sheets on the bed with a new comforter and several pillows were added.

"Your sisters said the thread count is higher." I jumped a bit when my mother startled me, "I didn't mean to scare you, Nicholas." She pulled down the comforter and ran her hand over the fitted sheet on the mattress, "I know your skin hasn't completely healed from the bites so Jillian found these at the store and bought them. They're a higher thread count which makes them softer."

I dropped my bag in the floor and ran my hands over the sheets. Personally, I didn't feel anything different with these versus the sheets we had on our bed before, but I knew better than to argue, "I'll be sure to thank them." Not having a better explanation than that, I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the floor. "Where are the dogs?"

"They're next door at the Brooks house. Cathy came to get them right after you went in the hospital. She said she tried to get the cat, but it hid in the closet, so she or Bryan would stop by and feed it. The teenager who handles the horses when you work said they're fine and were well fed and cared for." My mother took one of my hands in hers, "Welcome home, Nicholas."

She left me alone shortly after that and I didn't know whether to be thankful or call her back in the room. My mother was going out of her way to take care of not only me but Anna as well. She had Anna set up in the living room with plenty of pillows for her back and a blanket if she got cold. Mom was Anna's maid for the most part, even though Anna tried to protest. Anything she needed, my mother went to get. I guess that was her way of helping me, but it made me feel even more guilty to know why Anna was in the position she was in right now.

My sisters went to work frying up the catfish in the Fry Daddy my father had bought for us. Southern traditions hold true that everything tastes better fried. Catherine had brought over her lasagna right before we got home so I cut out a slice for Anna and threw it in the microwave while my sisters and mother went at it with the trimmings for the catfish.

Anna sat down at the edge of the table and I kissed the back of her neck as I put the plate of lasagna in front of her. She mouthed a thank you for me, not wanting to insult my parents over their choice of welcome home meal for me. I squeezed her wrist once before returning to the kitchen to help my sisters bring in the rest of the food to the table.

Dad remained quiet through the meal which puzzled me, but he would converse when engaged, but he mostly kept to himself. I knew him well enough to know that something was on his mind and I was pretty sure the talk about my moving back to Texas would come up at some point in time. He made sure he voiced his concerns over my living in Nevada every chance he got and now he had something huge in his corner to convince me that I should move back to Texas. Little did he know I had actually been entertaining the thought but I wanted to talk it over with Anna more before I mentioned it to anyone.

After supper, Bryan brought the dogs back home and stayed for a little bit, enjoying a piece of left over catfish before he left and Anna went to lie down with Jillian following her. Allison and I played a bit of golf on the Wii before she and my mother went to bed which left my father and me the only ones up. I braced myself for the talking to from him, but he only commented that he was glad I was home and was safe. We watched some television in silence and after the news went off, he excused himself and went to bed.

I stayed up a little bit longer, catching a rerun of Walker, Texas Ranger before I found myself yawning and turned the TV off and went to join Anna in bed.

I slept for about half an hour before Danilla startled me when she jumped in bed and climbed over me to get to Anna's pillow, where she normally slept. I sighed and rolled over, wishing I could calm down my mind enough to actually acquire a decent amount of sleep. The past few nights at the hospital had been relatively restful and I didn't want that to change.

I shifted restlessly onto my back and stared at the ceiling, letting my thoughts ricochet through my brain. I was still torn about what to do about my job. I knew my father well enough to know that he was just looking for the right time to bring up moving back to Texas and if I told him I had the slightest thought on doing it, he'd already have a realtor on speed dial, looking for the perfect home for me. I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do but having my father going out of his way to convince me to move home didn't help me much either.

The wind howled through the night, causing the branches on the large oak trees on the end of our house to scratch against the windows in the hallway. I made a mental note to cut the branches down at some point in time, but that thought was shoved aside by the others still crammed inside my head. Groaning heavily, I pulled the comforter up over my head, knowing that this storm wouldn't let me sleep anymore than the thoughts in my head would.

I stopped trying to sleep after my first attempts were interrupted by nightmares. I felt myself thrashing about in the dream and it's always the same one. I'm trapped and instead of being buried, I'm in trapped in a room and I have a clear view into rows of coffins, each one of them containing a member of my team. To my immediate right is Anna, crying and begging for me to get her out. On her left side is Bryan and next to him is Cathy. On my left are my parents, then each member of my team including Lindsey who is next to Catherine.

I snapped out of my trance when I heard a low rumble of thunder from outside and glanced over at Anna. She was perfectly fine and was on her back with one arm across her stomach and the other behind her head. I guess the baby finally cooperated long enough for her to get some rest. I pulled the covers back over her body and quietly shut the door and went up front.

Reaching into the fridge, I pulled out a bottle of orange juice and poured myself a glass. When the air conditioning kicked on, the sound of the compressor inside sent a flash of a memory of me being kidnapped in front of me and I heard the sound of glass breaking but it took me a minute to realize what it was. It was me. I froze when I heard the compressor kick on and I lost my grip on the glass of juice. It's appropriate because I've lost my grip on everything. I barely made it to the toilet before my supper made an appearance again and I was trembling and sweaty when I finished vomiting. I reached over and turned on the bathroom light to grab a towel out of the closet and I couldn't take it anymore. When the tears came, I slumped to the ground right there, leaning against the door.

I didn't want to get up. I wanted to stay right here, but I had to get up. My parents were still here and would be up any time. With them being a time zone ahead, their sleep patterns are ahead of Anna's and mine. I dutifully pulled myself up and stood in the shower, letting the warm water run down me for a good half an hour before I shut the water off and dried my body.

Staring at myself in the mirror, I barely recognized my own reflection. I had lost a bit of weight and I know this. My pants barely fit. On my last day at the hospital when I was actually allowed to wear something other than hospital scrubs, I had to cinch my belt up another notch just to keep my pants from falling down as I walked. My cheekbones seem sunken in and my eyes look hollow and the dark circles under my eyes give me away to anyone who knows me. I was having a hard time keeping everyone in check, but if I didn't do something and do it quick, I'd have everyone breathing down my back, not just my parents.

Giving up, I headed back to bed but found myself tossing and turning so much in bed that Anna poked me in the ribs and muttered something incomprehensible before sighing and letting her arm fall to the mattress.

It dawned on me as I was lying down that I hadn't opened the present that Grissom had given me. I got out of bed as quietly as I could and found the bag my parents had left on the floor in our room. Fishing around in the darkness, I found the box and quietly went up front to open it, not wanting to disturb Anna or my parents.

I turned on the lamp on the side table in the living room and sat down on the couch and tore the wrapping paper on the box and after digging through the tissue paper, I found an amber cube, about two inches by two inches. I thought it was a paperweight or something until I looked at what was inside the amber cube. It was an ant. A dark red fire ant.

I dropped the cube and it fell to the floor and bounced under the table. I was angry that Grissom would do this to me. Why in the hell would he think I'd need an amber encased fire ant? Did he want me to remember what nearly at me alive? Did he want me to relive the nightmare of my kidnapping over and over again every time I look at it?

"Oh wait, too late. I already do that every night." I spied the cube under the edge of the table and nudged it back so I wouldn't see it, "That's about as comforting as having a lung removed."

Cassie had heard me speaking to myself and came up front, trying to figure out what was going on. As she sat down in front of me, I kept thinking about what the actual hell was in his mind when he had this thing made or bought it or whatever he did to acquire it? Knowing Grissom, he probably went back to that nursery, found a bunch of ants and doused them in liquid amber or however it was that one encases something and made the present himself. He probably had a collection of them at his house, right next to his pickled pets and his bug collections.

My arms wrapped around me tightly, almost cutting off my air supply as I tried to hold myself together in any way I could. As my body began to tremble, I couldn't help how weak and vulnerable I felt. I silenced my sobs, hoping to not wake Anna or my parents up. The last thing I needed was one of them fawning all over me. With every sob, I was reminded of what happened.

When Cassie saw the cube and started to try to reach it, I picked it up and held it in my hands as I remembered the searing pain I was in because of the ants. My arms began to itch and when I started to scratch, the scabs fell off and I started to bleed. I wrapped my arms in gauze and sat back down, crossing my legs and sitting Indian style on the couch, with that amber ant on the end table. As Cassie stared at me, I stared hard at the ant, trying to understand why my supervisor thought I needed an amber encased fire ant in my life.

I couldn't sleep and knew there was no way I could sleep. I popped a K-cup into the Keurig machine and brewed a cup of coffee and after checking on my parents and Anna, I turned the TV on and resumed my position earlier, with the amber ant on my left on the end table. I didn't want to look at it but like the Tell-Tale Heart, I knew it was there. I got up and stuck it on the bookshelf in the living room, but knew Anna would find it and I didn't want her to see it.

I was standing in the living room, trying to decide where to put it so no one would find it. I briefly considered throwing it on the pond on our property, but didn't want to resort to such extreme measures just yet. I finally decided to stick it behind our TV in the entertainment center. Judging by the amount of dust behind our TV, it was a safe bet that Anna wouldn't find it for a long time.

I knew the thing was back there, just begging for me to look at it. I kept hearing the sounds of those ants as they filtered into the Plexiglas box where I was. The scratching. The scraping. The sound of a thousand tiny little legs pouring in to my prison. I felt every excruciating ant bite. I felt them crawling over me, unmercifully as they begged me to end it all. I remembered the steel of my gun and the feeling I felt when I squished the ants in my hand when I picked the gun up. I relived every painful memory as the venom spread through my body. I recalled the hallucinations I having because of the toxins building up.

It was then that I also remembered being rescued. I remembered Warrick beating on the top of the box. I remembered the cold blast from the fire extinguisher. I remembered how good it felt. I remembered the first deep breath of fresh air I took when Grissom opened the top of that box. I remembered him calling me Pancho. I remembered Anna's screams when they found me. I remembered the explosion when I was pulled out of the box. I remembered being found.

_That's it!_

It dawned on me why Grissom gave me that ant. Getting up, I got the cube from behind the TV and sat down on the floor with Cassie and held it my hands as I showed her the amber cube, "He wanted to remind me that they found me." Her only response was to cock her head to the side and whine, "I get it now."

I could almost hear Grissom's words in my head, " _You figured it out. Now you know what the ant means."_

It was a twisted way of saying he cared, but Grissom was never the card and flowers type of person. Knowing now what it meant, I decided not to hide the ant behind the TV anymore, but I still didn't want Anna to see it just yet. I hid it at the back of one of the shelves with our wedding portraits on it. The shelf was up high enough where Anna couldn't see the very back of it without using a step stool or something to see. It was perfect. I'd show it to her eventually, but the last thing I needed was another preterm labor event. One caused by my stupidity was enough.

Still feeling restless, I opted against going back to bed and turned on the TV. With it being so late at night, my TV choices were infomercials or reruns of SportsCenter. SportsCenter was boring with the only sport on TV now was baseball. I gave up on that and turned over to an infomercial about some annoying guy with a chamois, claiming it could pick up an entire gallon of water off the floor. I briefly considered ordering one just so I could spill a gallon of water on our floor just to see if it would work but decided against it knowing Anna would get mad if I purposely spilled water just to test this chamois's claim. The announcer guy looked a lot like Lance Bass from N*SYNC, but he also looked like he worked with mentally impaired donkeys for a living before being roped into selling the revolutionary new invention in his words. The microphone he had taped to his head was just wrong and he was way too excited over a chamois. This was all kinds of wrong and was proof that television was melting our brains and maybe we needed to walk away more often.

I lost track of time and actually became engrossed in the chamois infomercial, but not enough to actually buy one. When I caught the sight of something out of the corner of my eyes, I looked up to see Anna had materialized in our living room. It's disturbing to how soundlessly she can appear. She made her way over to me and sat down next to me before pulling a blanket up over her body and sighing deeply as she adjusted a pillow between her body and mine. I held on to her while she napped as I continued to watch TV, too wired from the caffeine in the coffee to even attempt to go back to sleep.

The next couple days were carbon copies of the first. I'd get an hour or two of sleep before I was jolted awake from a nightmare and I'd retreat to the couch to avoid waking Anna. The first day, she joined me on the couch, but after that, she either didn't wake up or didn't want to sleep on the couch next to me.

Friends stopped by to offer their well wishes and to bring an endless supply of cakes and casseroles. At this point in time, my mother would never have to cook again while she was here and even after they left, we still had plenty of food to tide us over until the baby was born. I was running out of room to put the dishes in our fridge.

But the one thing I couldn't do was sleep through the night. I'd toss and turn so much that Anna would mumble something to me and poke me. After three more days of the same thing, it had been a week since I had been home and sleep just wasn't happening no matter what I did.

**A/N: I've said it before and I'll say it again: Things aren't going to be rosy in the Stokes home as Nick deals with PTSD from everything. No one will die but it will be rocky.**


	45. Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goal Posts of Life

**Chapter 45 – Drop Kick Me Jesus Through The Goal Posts of Life**

I awoke, disoriented and panicked. For a brief flash of time, an alarmingly high level of panic rose with the contents of my stomach and I was half certain I'd see the starlit night sky and smell the dirt closing in around me. In that brief flash of a memory, I had to fight back the contents of my stomach a second time as I swallowed against the bitterness of blood, no doubt from an ulcer, as my eyes adjusted to the darkness and slow realization that I was at home and I was safe. The roof was still over my head. The ceiling fan was spinning and the floor fan beside me hummed soothingly as it rotated around in a semi circle. Anna was lying on her back with one of her legs out of the covers. I reached over to feel her stomach, hoping I'd feel the baby move, but Thing was just as still as his mother was. I watched the slow rise and fall of Anna's chest and felt myself tear up once again at the thought of how close I came to making her a widow. Before I could stop it, a sob had worked its way up my body and escaped with a sickening sound before I pulled the pillow over my face to quiet my outburst.

Draco had taken her spot on Anna's side of the bed but perked up when she heard me stirring. I did my best to calm the dog down without waking Anna up. Just to make sure I wasn't dreaming, I pinched myself hard on the top of my thigh and winced at the pain. I knew that if it hadn't hurt, I was dreaming again and I was back in that hell that I had barely had escaped from. A chill ran up my body as once again, I remembered how terrifyingly close I was to pulling that trigger.

For the longest time, it was so hard for me to envision a situation that had the potential to take my life away without spiraling into a blind panic. Now, I was having a hard time  _not_ envisioning situations that would take my life away. Buried alive. Shot on the job. Ran over. Car wreck. Explosion. Tornado. Earthquake. Fell off a building. Stabbed. Lit on fire. Eaten by a bear. Attacked by a suspect and beaten. Train wreck. Plane crash. Starvation. Dehydration. Frozen to death. Drowning. Pretty much every scenario imaginable played out through my mind at one point in time, all of them sending me towards a state of panic so intense that I wasn't sure if I'd ever recover.

There comes a time in life when something happens and life forever changes. I've noticed through my job that a lot of people focus on the good changes and I had plenty of those, but here lately, all I could concentrate on was what had happened that was not so good. For me, it could be triggered by anything, small, medium, big or something so insignificant that it shouldn't matter but it does. It could happen instantaneously or the realization may accumulate through an evolution of experience.

I managed to stay in bed the rest of the night, but failed to sleep any more. Instead, the thoughts in my head were as knotted up and off balance as my life was becoming. The whole night as I lay awake in the bedroom, alternating between listening to the fan's hum or Anna's slow, rhythmic breathing, the question I kept coming back to was the same.

_When would it ever end?_

Day finally broke and I woke up early enough to start breakfast for everyone. Anna had developed an intense craving for strawberries after I got home from the hospital but thankfully my father had ran a few errands for us yesterday and had stocked up last night before he came home. I knew Anna was out of strawberries and the last thing I wanted to do was go to the store to get her more.

' _No, that's not entirely true.'_ I caught myself thinking as I was holding on to the carton of strawberries, ' _The last thing you want to do is go by work.'_ My thoughts earlier in the night were jumbled at best but the added stressor of having to go to work to pick up some forms I needed to fill out from my incident made me vomit more than once.

I let inertia close the refrigerator door for me as I reached in the dishwasher for the colander to rinse the berries off for Anna. As I let the water heat up, I ran my hands under the sink and the now steaming stream of water. The pain got to be so intense that I jerked my hand away reflexively, but immediately stuck it back under the hot water once again, forcing myself to live with the pain. I was burning my hand, but I didn't care. As long as I was focused on the physical pain of the hot water on my hand, the mental pain left behind by everything stayed in check.

My parents woke up first, closely followed by Anna. Her eyes brightened when I handed her a plate of freshly cut strawberries and she went to work immediately dipping them all in sugar finishing the plate before the rest of us finished with our breakfast.

Mom knew I had to run into town so she suggested Anna and I head out with me. I really didn't want them coming with me to the lab but Anna reminded me she had another ultrasound appointment to check to see how Thing was doing. After remembering the appointment, I told mom and Anna I'd drop them off at the doctor's office and I'd head to the lab by myself.

I let my mother drive us back to Las Vegas. I wasn't in a driving mood and Anna was forbidden from doing anything even remotely exerting. I let her ride in the front with my mother while I stretched out in the back seat of Anna's truck and closed my eyes as I drowned out the sounds of my mother and Anna talking baby talk. They bantered back and forth on the names and whether or not it would be a boy or if it'd be a girl. I told Anna not to tell anyone about Kristy in my dreams and as far as I knew, she had kept her promise. My mother was still convinced it was a boy so she and Anna debated back and forth on baby names even though Anna had already agreed that if Thing was a boy, I could name him Nick Junior.

Finally, we reached the Medplex where Anna's OB was. My mother parked near the front door but refused to let Anna out of the truck until I came back with a wheelchair. With her protesting rather loudly, she sat down and I let my mother push her inside after I told them to text me when they were done and I'd swing back by.

After I left, I drove as slow as humanly possible down the familiar streets that wound up at the lab. On the last stop light before I'd have to turn to get to the parking lot, my heart rate sped up and I felt something catch inside me. I choked down the fear once again when a car horn sounded, telling me that the light had changed colors. I flipped an errant wave to the driver behind me in a pathetic excuse to tell him I was sorry.

I parked at the west side of the lab, shaking so hard that if anyone saw me, they'd probably call 911 thinking I was having a seizure but I wasn't. I was just going stark raving mad.

My whole body had been shaking for two days straight because of what I was about to do. My muscles ached, my joints hurt, and in a desperate attempt to stop the memories, I had repeatedly hit my hands against just about every part of my body I could find but it didn't help. I had bruises up and down my legs and claw marks all over my arms from pinching myself until I drew blood but nothing helped. Thanks to pants and a few long sleeved shirts, I was keeping that part of my recovery under wraps.

I had been here ten minutes and hadn't even thought about going inside. To keep from going insane, I stared at the building, concentrating at the faded lettering on the east side.

_Las Vegas Criminal Investigation Services_

I had passed by those words thousands of times but it was only now that the five plastic words on the side of the building made me break out in chills. I had made my mind up to leave Las Vegas and though I had tried to deny it to myself, I really would miss working here. This was my first home away from home and though I knew it'd be hard leaving Texas, everyone here welcomed me with open arms. I had to be crazy for thinking that though because it seemed like nothing but bad things happened to the people who worked here, with the vast majority of the bad things happening to me.

Amy Hendler. Nigel Crane. Renee Willis. Walter Gordon. It was one nightmare after another.

Maybe I should give moving back to Texas some more thought. Maybe it would help me heal. Anna and I hadn't decided on where to move to but we had decided to move. She didn't want to stay in Las Vegas any more than I did. The only thing she would tell me is she'd follow me anywhere, even if I was wandering around in circles with no direction which apparently was what I was doing now.

I wasn't looking forward to seeing my co-workers again. They'd probably know that sometimes I'm still in the box. Those times when I zone out and stare off into space. Those times when I drop things or jump just a little too much when I get startled. The way my father treats me and the way my mother babies me but I wonder if they know exactly how close they came to saying goodbye for good. I wonder if they know how close I actually was to pulling that trigger or that their goodbyes sometimes leave me expecting to wake up underground, encased in a Plexiglas state of hell rather than waking up in my bed, right next to Anna or waking up on the couch where I fell asleep watching a game on TV. I expect to wake up in my coffin, covered in ants and in a state of mind numbing panic that morphs into a state of psychosis from the toxins. How about being so dehydrated I was to the point of death and so desperate that I was ten seconds from killing myself. Or just to wake up dead, floating over my dead body, waiting until Anna wakes up or my parents come in to see my still form.

I saw the lettering on the side of the building a second time and it made me shiver despite the Nevada heat.

_Las Vegas Criminal Investigation Services_

I have my job to thank for the last thought. How many times did I work crime scenes that turned out to be nothing criminal? A wife of sixty years finds her husband dead in their bed, dying sometime in the night peacefully in his sleep. A newlywed comes home to find police officers in her driveway telling her that her husband was killed by a drunk driver on his way home. That time Brass and I had to drive to Henderson to tell a mother that her eleven year old son was killed in a bus wreck off Boulder Canyon Highway after a school field trip.

Or in my case, that time when Catherine, Sara, Greg, Warrick, Grissom or Ecklie would be the ones coming to my house to tell my wife that someone kidnapped me, stuffed me in a box and I shot myself when I lost hope.

Sometimes the expectation closes in on me like those Plexiglas walls. It sickens me with a feeling that reminded me that I was running out of time. I should know by now that the clock is always ticking down until we're dead. God knows I've dealt with that enough with my job. Everyone always has the "woulda, coulda, shoulda" regrets after a tragedy. For some of us, it comes sooner than later. For others, it comes later than it should have. Sometimes I have to remind myself that I can breathe and I'm fine, just like this morning. Sometimes, no matter how much convincing I do to myself, I step out into the fresh air and can barely hold on.

Sometimes it's bad – sometimes it's so bad that I just know I've lost it completely but sometimes it's good, like feather softness and cool breezes kissing my ant bitten skin.

Suddenly, I'm grateful – not again, because I never stopped – but just so much more. For now, and sometimes, and always because I know how frighteningly close it came to being never again. To never seeing Anna again. To never seeing Thing grow up. To never seeing my parents or my sisters or brother again. To have to live with the pain I caused them all after my death. To live with the thoughts they'd have about why I killed myself.

I could see Warrick throwing something in frustration in the morgue,  _"If he would have waited just two minutes longer!'_

I could envision Greg, screaming at my lifeless body after Doc Robbins got done with the post,  _"God damn it, Nick! We were coming for you. How could you think we'd let you down?"_

The hardest one to imagine would be Anna, alone in our home, holding our baby in her arms as she cried, " _I'm so sorry you'll never know your daddy."_

It made me physically ill to think about Anna and our baby. Every time I let my thoughts drift down that dark and twisty road in my head, I felt myself getting sicker and sicker. I felt my stomach jump at a flash of memory of me holding that gun closely followed by a vision of Anna rocking our baby as tears streamed down her face. She'd be in Thing's room in that rocking chair that my mother had found, holding him to her as she cried along with him, screaming profanities at me for widowing her and abandoning my son.

Then again, maybe I should have died in that damn box. I felt the fingers on my right hand twitch just slightly. I flashed back and felt the metal against my skin once again as I held on to that gun, trying to find the inner strength to kill myself, but I couldn't do it. My fingers had twitched on the trigger countless times and it caused chills to run through my body at the thought of another pound of pressure on that trigger and I wouldn't be in the parking lot at work. I'd be in the morgue. Anna would be a widow. Thing would grow up without me.

Trying to get the feeling of that gun out of my hands, I opened and closed the fingers on my right hand as I finally shut off Anna's truck and opened the door, taking my time in standing up.

Feeling my surroundings starting to become fuzzy, I sat back down and shut the truck door to hide for a little bit longer. The ability to walk had temporarily abandoned me, leaving me instead with a massive case of vertigo. Despite the bad things that had happened during the years I have worked here, this job has given me a lot. I established myself as someone other than "Judge Stokes's son." I made a life for myself and a damn good one at that. I have some great friends and have made some really good memories over the years, but most importantly I met Anna. I met Anna and we made it through hell multiple times and we always found our way back to each other.

I didn't want to be here, but Grissom told me he needed to see me before I started in on my therapy. Apparently Ecklie had a new rule that any post duty incidents needed to be handled by a city approved therapist. Grissom said he'd get me the list in an email, but since my release from the hospital, getting him to return any phone call to any member of my family was next to impossible. I had called Judy earlier and she said he was in his office and would keep him inside the building until I got there.

Now I just had to go inside.

I didn't want to be here and didn't want to face the looks of my co-workers as I passed by them. I'd know what they were thinking. They didn't even have to say it out loud.

' _Poor Nick. Buried in that box!'_

' _How did he survive for that long? He must be so lucky!'_

I snickered at that one, "Lucky." I exhaled sharply and the snicker turned into a sarcastic laugh, "Lucky to survive being eaten alive by ants and not being able to sleep without nightmares. Yeah, I'm lucky alright."

"Nick?" Someone was knocking on the window, "Is that you?"

I straightened my composure and looked out the window, relieved to see it was Bobby Dawson and not Sara or Catherine. Last thing I needed was to be mothered or smothered. I was getting enough of that at home. "Bobby." With him staring at me, I didn't want to sit in the truck too much longer, "You startled me."

He moved out of the way so I could open the door, "Sorry about that. I saw you sitting here and I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Yeah…" My mind started to race as I tried to think of an excuse as to why I was sitting outside for so long, "I couldn't find my ID badge. I thought I tossed it in the truck, but I guess I was wrong."

Bobby clearly saw right through my excuses, "Getting up the nerve to go inside wasn't going so well, was it?"

I shook my head and knew better than to lie more, "Yeah. Grissom was supposed to get me the post incident forms in the mail, but the last message I had from him was that they were in his office. He wanted to see how I was doing." The sun was glaring off one of the panes of glass on the front of the building by now which caused me to squint at the glare, "My parents are still in town and Anna had a doctor's visit, so I dropped my mother and her off and said I'd be back later." I turned around to face away from the glare on the building and faced the busy highway behind the lab, "I just didn't think going inside would be this hard."

"Want me to get everything for you?" Bobby stuck one of his arms through the shoulder straps of the backpack he was carrying, "Keep you from having to go inside."

It was a tempting offer, "Thanks, but I need to do this." Needing and wanting didn't make the door open. I had to take the first step. I had to be the one to do this on my own. I had to fight and stumble my way over there and push the door open then take a step inside and it scared the hell out of me.

"Come on." Bobby started towards the door, "I'll walk with you. It helps having a friend."

With him leading the way, I felt my pulse quicken as we started towards the door. An errant horn honking in the background startled me and as I turned around to see where the noise was coming from, I backed into a holly bush on the outside of the building. The spines on the end of the leaves brushed against me and made me jump back when I felt them stab me in the back of my arm. It took everything I had not to throw up all over the concrete.

"Go." Bobby turned me around towards the parking lot, "I'll go get what you need and bring it out to you. Go sit down."

I didn't have to be told twice.

Ten minutes later, Bobby was coming out the door with one of the swing shift tox techs and one of the other print techs from the day shift. He kept their eyes and focus diverted away from me and once they were both in their cars, he doubled back and headed my direction, forever thankful he led them away from me. I motioned for him to get in on the passenger's side of Anna's Xterra and unlocked the doors. He handed me a manila envelope with my name scribbled on the top of it, "Grissom wasn't even in his office. I saw that tacked to his fish cork board and figured it was what you needed."

"Mmmm…" I opened the envelope and glanced down at the forms before throwing them over my shoulder, "I'll look through those later."

"It gets easier. It takes time, but it does get easier."

I chuckled to myself, "Time."

"Nick…" Bobby exhaled sharply, "I could sit here and tell you I know what it's like to be in your shoes. I could tell you everything will be just fine and we can both laugh at our problems and what we've been through, but it doesn't help. It won't help. I was never buried alive so I don't know what it's like to be you and I'm not going to pretend to know what it's like. I will say that I've been in a similar state of mind as the one you're in now. It took me a lot of time to move past it."

"What happened?" I saw his brow furrow as he rubbed the side of his jaw with his hand, "I mean, if you want to tell me."

"I was robbed and shot."

I was surprised, "I didn't know."

Bobby smiled, "Yeah, it's something I keep under wraps. No one knows about it here. Before I came to work for the LVPD, I was working at a lab in Washington, DC for the capitol police and then transferred to the Tampa Bay Police then finally wound up here in Las Vegas. The shooting happened while I was in Tampa Bay. I was waiting on a bus after I had gotten off work when some guy shoved a gun to my neck and tried to relieve me of my laptop and my iPod. I knew better than to fight and handed both over. He started to run away and I thought I was in the clear but I wasn't. He turned around and shot me before he ran off again."

Damn. I had no idea why this story struck me the way it did, but it hit a cord. I finally found someone, besides Anna, who knew what real trauma was, "What happened?"

"I died and was buried. Funeral was great. You should have been there." Bobby started to laugh when I covered my mouth in a pathetic attempt not to laugh at his blatantly obvious interjection of sarcasm, "It was a rip roaring event; the social event of the season. We brought the house down." He had to stop his story when I started to laugh so hard, I started to cry and for once, crying like this felt damn good, "Seriously, I recovered." He waited a few more moments until I composed myself before he could finish his story, "I needed surgery to repair the damage the bullet did but after therapy and a move to a new location, I started to get better. That's also why I continued to work in ballistics. Had it not been for one of my partners at the TBPD, my shooter wouldn't have been caught."

"So, there's hope for me?"

Bobby nodded, "Of course there is. It will be a while before you are fully yourself, just as it took time before I stopped shaking every time a stranger approached me, but it did happen. It will happen for you, too."

I got a text message and knew immediately from the ring tone that it was Anna, "I'll let you go pick Anna up. Tell her I said hi."

I thanked Bobby for his time and for saving me from going inside and watched as he left me alone in the parking lot. Before I backed out, I sent a text back to Anna, telling her I was on my way.

 _Time. Time. Time. Time._ It was what everyone was telling me it'd take and I was out of time.

The anger in me kept building up and I slammed the heel of my hand onto the steering wheel, over and over again until I heard a crack. Not seeing any damage to Anna's truck, I took in a deep breath of air, filling my lungs to the point of pain and let it out in an angry scream. No one was in the parking lot to hear my agony or my string of profanities escaping my mouth. When the rage that was built up inside of me was finally gone, I collapsed forward and rested my forehead on the steering wheel and let the deep, choking sobs escape me. Finally after about five minutes of sobbing, I started the truck and backed up and slowly made my way out of the parking lot before someone came outside looking for me.

Pulling onto the highway to get to the Medplex, the panic attack started to subside. My thoughts were jumbled in my head as I kept bouncing back and forth between ideas. Did I want to stay here? Did I want to move back to Texas? Should I just give it all up and move to Hawaii and sell coconuts? I was tired of sitting at home and having my parents worry over me. They were supposed to head back to Texas next weekend, but that still left about ten more days with them at home. Jillian and Allison had gone home a few days after I came home from the hospital, but it was still unnerving to have my parents watching over me, knowing what I put them through.

Anna had filled me in with what she knew about what my parents tried to do when I was trapped, including the press conference Ecklie set up. Against her will, Anna was on screen, but didn't say anything. She said she heard the mayor say something about "garnering sympathy for Nick since his wife is pregnant." The more I thought about that, the angrier I was. It was bad enough that Anna was in that position because of me, but for Ecklie and the undersheriff to use her was just wrong.

One thing I have noticed after all this was that it was weird for people who still have feelings to be around depressed people like me. Sure, I put on a good front and smiled when I was supposed to, but what I really wanted was to be left the hell alone. They try to help me have feelings again so things can go back to normal, and it's frustrating for them when that doesn't happen. From their perspective, it seems like there has got to be some untapped source of happiness within me that I've simply lost track of, and if I could just see how beautiful things are…Well, I know how beautiful everything is. Before this, I had a great life. Now, I've been given an excuse of a life and I've got to make the best of it, or so I keep being told.

It would be like having a bunch of dead fish, but no one around you will acknowledge that the fish are dead. Instead, they offer to help you look for the fish or try to help you figure out why they disappeared. The problem might not even  _have_  a solution. But I'm aren't necessarily looking for solutions. I'm maybe just looking for someone to say "sorry about how dead your fish are" or "wow, those are super dead. I still like you, though."

My dad was in a sour mood when we got home, telling my mother he might have to head back to Dallas before she did. I let it pass as I went to lie down on the couch to take a nap as Anna headed back towards the bedroom. An hour later, my mother was waking me up, telling me dinner was ready and that my father was going to fly back to Dallas, probably tomorrow which had my mother visibly upset. I knew why especially as my parents cast glances at each other as they mentally debated about leaving me alone, "Mom, dad, I'll be okay. You don't have to stay here if you don't want to."

"I know, Nicholas." My mother put her hand on my shoulder as she sat a plate of food in front of me, "We just don't want to leave you or Anna yet."

I noticed Anna's spot at the table was empty, "Where is Anna?"

"She's taking a nap." My father sat down between my mother and me, "She told your mother not to hold dinner up." Without another word, my father picked up his fork and knife and went to work sawing the pot roast my mother had made into bite sized chunks.

Two hours later, my father had packed up his suitcase and had left it by the front door. I told him I'd take him into town tomorrow to catch his flight back to Texas. I tried unsuccessfully to get my mom to fly back with him but she did mention she wouldn't be here too much longer. I can't fault her for that. I haven't lived at home in some years, but I understand that no matter how old I am, I'll always be her baby. If anything, Anna being pregnant had taught me that. I felt an immediate bond to that baby inside Anna from the instant she told me she was pregnant and it only grew more intense as the pregnancy progressed and with each ultrasound photo she showed me.

In a way, I was glad my mother would be here and my father would be gone, but in a way, I wish they'd both go back to Texas but that'd come soon enough. In the meanwhile, I'd have to make due with what I was given and that was my mom and Anna hovering over me, though Anna was slightly better about letting me have my space when I needed it.

As night fell, my parents went to bed and Anna only briefly came up front for some water before sitting down on the couch beside me. I put a pillow in my lap and she immediately fell asleep, still holding my hand. I turned on the TV and flipped through channels at record breaking speed, not seeing anything even remotely interesting to watch. I eventually settled on The Weather Channel before throwing the remote on the end table and carrying Anna back to bed. She mumbled something incoherent at me as I covered her up and kissed her gently on her forehead before she shifted in her sleep and sighed as I left the room.

With the TV droning on in the background, I went outside to Anna's truck to get that packet of info that Bobby had brought to me earlier. After tearing open the end of the packet, I found more paperwork inside asking me to fill out what happened to me. I snorted and threw that aside and continued shuffling through everything, eventually stopping on the part about the psychologist visits. According to what was written, I would have to go to five mandatory sessions then anything after that was strictly voluntary. I remember after Anna got shot, I had to go to a few mandatory sessions then but it wasn't worth it to keep from going. I was just so relieved that she was okay that it didn't help me any to talk about my feelings and I was already thinking this wouldn't be any different. Not really wanting to look through the papers anymore, I stuffed everything back inside the ripped envelope and went to lie back on the couch, reaching for a pillow to cover my face.

My stomach grumbled and I threw the pillow off my face and got up to see what was left in the fridge. People had been bringing over cakes, casseroles, pies and food since I got home from the hospital. Since there was no way we'd eat everything everyone brought over, Anna and I had given some of the food to Bryan and Cathy, who happily accepted on our behalf.

Reaching blindly into the fridge, I pulled out a ceramic bowl of corn left over from dinner last night. As I reached for it, my thoughts were back on what happened to me. I don't claim to know why this happened, but when I saw the bowl of corn, something snapped and then that thing twisted through a few permutations of logic that I don't understand and produced the most confusing bout of uncontrollable, debilitating laughter that I have ever experienced. I was still in the middle of laughing uncontrollably at a bowl of corn left over from dinner earlier that I never heard Anna approaching behind me.

"Since when did corn become so funny?" I almost dropped the bowl when she startled me, "Sorry."

"Jesus. You're like the twins in 'The Shining.' One minute, no one is there and the next, there you are."

She shrugged, not really having a response for my sarcasm and I didn't blame her. I let the door to the fridge shut on its own again and dug a spoon out of the drawer and started eating cold corn, straight from the bowl while Anna gave me a look, "What?"

Once again, she answered me in a shrug, "I've just never seen you eat cold corn before." I dug the spoon deep into the bowl and produced a heap of it on the end and offered it to Anna, who accepted, "I still prefer it warm though." She wiped a bit of juice from the edge of her chin with the back of her hand and motioned for me to give her another spoonful which I did.

The two of us stood in silence in our kitchen, enjoying a bowl of cold corn for a few moments, not really feeling the need to break the silence which I found comforting. That was one of the things I loved about Anna the most – she didn't need to constantly be talking when silence overcame us both. She was as content as I was to just enjoy being together without having to fill the dead space with idle chit chat about nothing.

When we had finished the bowl of corn, I tossed the spoon into the sink and it hit with a loud clang but I was gentler with the now empty bowl. I pulled on Anna's hand and brought her to me, but I could tell that she was still confused by the fact I was first laughing at then eating a bowl of cold corn in our kitchen. As I tightened my grip around her shoulders, she finally returned the hug, with both arms and I felt her sigh as she rested her forehead on my arm. She and I both couldn't think of anyone who was in the state we were both in and after everything that had happened who would have been so considerate of feelings while still so badly needing someone to show and be shown the sort of affection that hugging entailed. Anna wasn't afraid to let me know how she felt about all of this, but I was having a harder time showing emotion than she was. Part of it she wrote off as being pregnant and crying at everything, but part of it was a deep concern she had for me on a level no one had ever had for me in my life up until this point in time.

**A/N And with this chapter, each and every chapter of this story is both on AO3 and FFN.  Thanks for the support.**


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